@
^•5^.,
By William Tyler Olcott
A Field Book of the Stars
In Starland with a Three-Inch Telescope
Star Lore of the Ages
Lur Lore of All Ages
A Collection of Myths, Legends, and Facts
Concerning the Constellation
the Northern Hemisphere
William T ?;.,.*,
Author of '« A Field Book ,.
Three-Inch T-.
With 50' Illustrations in t:,
Illustr
G. P. Putniini's Sons
New York and London
Zbc fmiclictbocfter ^x-r^
1911
Star Lore of All Ages
A Collection of Myths, Legends, and Facts
Concerning the Constellations of
the Northern Hemisphere
By
William Tyler Olcott
Author of *' A Field Book of the Stars," '♦ In Starland, with a
Three-Inch Telescope," etc.
With 50 Illustrations in the Text and 64 Full-Page
Illustrations
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
Zbe fmicketbocker Press
1911
COPTKIGHT, IQtl
BY
WILLIAM TYLER OLCOTT
S5
TCbe Knicfcetbocliet press, tKew Sod
G. H. O.
AND
L. S. S.
PREFATORY NOTE
The author's first book, A Field Book of the Stars was
simply intended as a guide to the constellations. It
was an effort on his part to acquaint the reader with the
star groups and the individual star names. In his book,
In Starland with a Three-inch telescope he sought to in-
dicate to the amateur astronomer what could be seen of
the stellar wonders with a modest telescopic equipment.
It follows naturally that having come to be on friendly
terms with the stars, and having seen many of the beautiful
sights that the night reveals, the tyro should wish to
know more of the history of the stars and how the constel-
lations came to be named, and the purpose of this book
therefore is to satisfy that desire.
It is always a pleasure to trace back to their sources the
traditions with which time has endowed the enduring, and
thus the study of the myths and legends that surround
the eternal stars possesses a surpassing charm for those who
have learned to know them intimately and through nightly
communion with them have come to love them.
The author quotes extensively from R. H. Allen's Star
Names and Their Meanings, an exhaustive and scholarly
work and an authority on the subject, and he here pays
tribute to the author for the pleasure a close perusal of his
book affords, and heartily commends it to all those who
desire to make a closer study of the philology of the ancient
star names.
INTRODUCTION
There are many persons who are familiar with the bright
stars and constellations of these northern latitudes who
are unaware of the beautiful myths and legends that time
and fancy have woven about them.
As even a meagre knowledge of star lore has added
greatly to the writer's pleasure in the study of the stars,
and has served to render their appearance full of
suggestion, he has been interested in collecting for this
volume a portion of that varied history of the heavens
that has been presented in terms imaginative by the peo-
ples of all ages. Those who admire the beauty of the stars
may learn to love them by reason of the literary and leg-
endary associations recalled by their appearance.
Much that appears in these pages has been published
from time to time in books on popular astronomy of com-
paratively recent date, but to the writer's knowledge no
comprehensive story has as yet been presented of the con-
stellations, and of the stars they contain.
In the compilation of this volume, the purpose has been
to include all matter pertinent to the subject, in order that
the history of the constellations, as known and as written
by all nations in every age, might be arranged in convenient
form for the benefit of those who only know the stars by
sight.
A further aim has been to revive an interest in the
mythology that twines about the stars. It has seemed but
right that this wealth of star lore, buried deep in the treas-
ury of the past, should once more see the light, and add its
increased charm and interest to those who scan the skies.
Such a history must ever serve to keep bright the memory
viii Introduction
of the earliest times, and fanciful though the constellation
figures seem, our stars bear the same names that were
given to them in the very dawn of civilisation.
In conclusion, it is hoped that the history of the heavens
here set forth will awaken fresh interest in the stars, and
will secure for them the attention that is their just due,
on the part of all lovers of the beautiful.
W. T. O.
Norwich, Conn, January, 191 1.
And all the signs through which Night whirls her car.
From belted Orion back to Orion and his dauntless Hound,
And all Poseidon's, all high Zeus's stars.
Bear on their beams true messages to man.
Paste's Translation of Aratos,
CONTENTS
Prefatory Note
Introduction
The Origin and History of the Ancient
Groups .....
Andromeda, the Chained Lady .
Aquarius, the Water Bearer
Piscis Australis, the Southern Fish .
Aquila, the Eagle ....
Aries, the Ram
Auriga, the Charioteer
Bootes, the Bear Driver .
Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs .
Cancer, the Crab ....
'Canis Major, the Greater Dog .
Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog .
tAPRICORNUS, THE SeA GoAT
Cassiopeia, the Lady in the Chair
Cepheus, the King ....
Cetus, the Whale ....
Star
PAOB
V
vii
3
21
31
39
45
53
63
73
83
87
95
109
"5
125
135
143
XI
xu
Contents
Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown . 149
CoRvus, THE Crow 157
Crater, the Cup . . 165
Cygnus, THE Swan or the Northern Cross . 171
Delphinus, the Dolphin . . . 179
Draco, the Dragon . . . . . .185
Eridanus, the River Po . . . . 195
Gemini, the Twins ...... 201
Hercules, the Kneeler . . . 213
Hydra, the Water Snake . . . . 223
Leo, the Lion ....... 231
Lepus, the Hare ...... 243
Libra, the Scales ...... 249
Lyra, the Lyre ....... 257
Ophiuchus or Serpentarius, the Serpent-Bearer,
AND Serpens, the Serpent .... 267
Orion, the Giant Hunter ..... 275
Pegasus, the Flying Horse . . . .291
Perseus, the Champion 301
Pisces, the Fishes ...... 309
Sagittarius, the Archer . -317
Scorpio, the Scorpion ..... 325
Taurus, the Bull ...... 335
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear . . . 347
Contents xiii
Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear .
Virgo, the Virgin .....
The Galaxy, or Milky Way
The Hyades and Pleiades, the Hyades
The Pleiades ......
The Minor Constellations
Argo Navis, the Ship Argo .
Camelo'pardalis, the Giraffe
CoLUMBA No^, Noah's Dove
Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair
Lacerta, the Lizard ....
Leo Minor, the Lesser Lion
Lynx, the Lynx
MONOCEROS, THE UnICORN
Sagitta, the Arrow ....
Sextans, the Sextant ....
Scutum Sobiescanum, Sobieski's Shield
Triangulum, the Triangle .
VULPECULA Cum Ansere, the Fox with the
Goose
Appendix
Index to Constellations ....
PAGE
391
401
429
431
432
433
433
434
435
435
436
436
437
438
438
439
443
451
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGS
The Creation of the Sun and Moon PronUspiece
(Michelangelo) .
Ptolemy ........ 12
National Miiseum, Naples.
Perseus and Andromeda . . . . . 22
(Berlin).
Great Nebula in Andromeda .... 26
Ganymede and the Eagle .... 32
Museum of Vatican, Rome.
Ganymede Seized by the Eagle ... 46
Painting by Rubens. Gallery of the Prado, Madrid.
Ganymede ........ 48
Painting by George Frederick Watts.
Avenue of Ram-headed Sphinxes, Karnak . 56
From Piers's " Inscriptions of the Nile Monuments."
The Temple of Khonsu, Karnak ... 68
From Piers's " Inscriptions of the Nile Monuments."
Chariot 69
Atlas ........ 74
National Mtiseum, Naples.
XV
xvi Illustrations
PAGE
Spiral Nebula in Canes Venatici ... 84
The Temple at Luxor 100
God Anubis 102
Action Attacked by the Hounds of Diana . no
National Museum, Palermo.
Typhon . . . . . .116
Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Theseus Slaying the Minotaur . . . 148
Statue at Villa Albani.
The Minotaur ....... 150
Painting by George Frederick Watts.
Bacchus and Ariadne . . . . -152
National Gallery, London.
Ariadne Sleeping . . . . . -154
National Museum, Rome.
Medea 166
National Museum Naples.
Orpheus and Eurydice . . . .172
Painting by George Frederick Watts.
Cupid and Dolphin 180
National Museum, Naples.
Minerva ........ 186
Vatican Museum, Rome.
Temple of Thebes ...... 190
Illustrations xvii
PAGE
Phaeton Driving the Chariot of Apollo . .196
Painting by Max Klepper.
Temple of Castor and Pollux at Rome . . 202
Temple of Castor and Pollux at Girgenti . 204
Farnese Hercules . ., . . . .210
National Museum, Naples.
The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents
at Pompeii 214
Dejanira and Nessus . . , . .216
Painting by Lagr6n6e. Museum of the Louvre, Paris.
Hercules and Hesperides ..... 220
Villa Albani, Rome.
Star Cluster in the Centauri . . . 222
Hercules and the Hydra ..... 224
UfBzi Gallery at Florence.
Orpheus and Eurydice 258
Villa Albani, Rome.
Mercury, by Rubens ..... 260
Gallery of the Prado, Madrid.
Ring Nebula in Lyra 264
Laocoon 270
Museum of Vatican, Rome.
The Forge of Vulcan ..... 278
In the Ducal Palace, Venice.
xviii Illustrations
PAGE
Diana ........ 280
Capitoline Museum, Rome.
The Zodiac of Denderah 282
Great Nebula in Orion . . . . .286
Harvard Collie Observatory.
Bellerophon and Pegasus at Rome . . . 292
Perseus and Andromeda ..... 302
Painting by Rubens.
Perseus and Medusa . . . . . 304
Bronze by Cellini at Florence.
Venus and Cupid 310
The Rape of Europa . . . 338
Painting by Veronese. In the Ducal Palace, Venice.
Juno and Jove 352
National Museum, Palermo.
The Temple of Hathor at Denderah 362
Ceres . . . . . . . 384
In the Vatican, Rome.
The Sphinx 388
Juno Suckling the Infant Jove . . 394
Painting by Rubens. Gallery of the Prado, Madrid.
The Milky Way in Sagittarius . 396
The Dance of the Pleiades .... 408
Painting by Elihu Vedder.
Illustrations xix
rAcs
The Lost Pleiad ...... 420
By Randolph Rogers.
The Pleiades, Showing Nebula . . . 424
(Bruce 24-inch Telescope.) Courtesy of Prof. E. C.
Pickering.
Temple of Edfu . . . . . . 432
Berenice 434
Bronze Bust in National Museum, Naples.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In the compilation of this volume the author hereby
acknowledges his indebtedness to the following publica-
tions for much valuable information.
Star-Names and their Meanings
Starland
Influence of the Stars
A History of Astronomy
Astronomical Myths
Stellar Theology .
Primitive Constellations
Geography of the Heavens
The Story of the Stars
The System of the Stars
The Sidereal Heavens
Star Lore
Metrical Pieces
Astronomical Essays
How to Know the Heavens
Astronomy of the Ancients
Dawn of Astronomy
Star-Gazing
The Friendly Stars
The Astronomy of the Bible
The Children's Book of Stars
The Stars
Astronomy of Paradise Lost
Familiar Talks on Astronomy
History of the Heavens .
Ancient Calendars and Constellations
The Stars in Song and Legend
The Storyland of Stars .
Stories of Starland ....
Myths and Marvels of Astronomy .
The Flowers of the Sky .
The Expanse of Heaven .
xxi
. Richard H. Allen
. Sir Robert S. Ball
Rosa Baughan
Arthur Berry
. J. F. Blake
> Robert Brown, Jun.
. Elijah H. Burritt
George F. Chambers
. Agnes M. Gierke
Thomas Dick
J. A. Farrer
N. L. Frothingham
James E. Gore
Eward Irving
Sir George C. Lewis
Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer
Martha Evans Martin
E. W. Maunder
Geraldine E. Mitton
Simon Newcomb
T. N. Orchard
W. H. Parker
The Abbe Pluche
E. M. Plunket
. J. G. Porter
Mara L. Pratt
Mary Proctor
Richard A. Proctor
xxu
Bibliography
Handbook of the Stars ....
Astronomy of the Old Testament
Curiosities of the Sky ....
Pleasures of the Telescope
Astronomy with an Opera-Glass
Astronomy with the Naked Eye
New Astronomy .....
Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes
History of the Inductive Sciences .
Oriental and Linguistic Studies
Journal of American Folk-Lore
American Oriental Society's Journal
Memoirs of the London Anthropological Society
Popular Astronomy
The Works of John Playfair
. N. J. RoKe
Giovanni Schiaparelli
> Garret P. Serviss
David P. Todd
Rev. T. W. Webb
. WiUiamWheweU
William D. Whitney
The Origin and History of the Ancient
Star Groups
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT
STAR GROUPS
Some man of yore
A nomenclature thought of and devised,
And forms sufficient found.
So thought he good to qaake the stellar groups,
That each by other lying orderly,
They might display their forms. And thus the stars
At once took names and rise familiar now.
Aratos.
The origin of the constellations is still open to conjecture,
for, though all nations since the dawn of history have recog-
nised these ancient stellar configurations, and at one period
or another employed them in some symbolic or representa-
tive capacity, the fact remains that the researches of archae-
ologists have failed to yield definite proof as to who first
designed them and where they were first known.
There is little doubt that the constellations were the re-
sult of a deliberate plan, as La Place affirms. Possibly
they were an endeavour on the part of some patriarch of
the ancient world to grave an imperishable record of a great
event, or a series of noteworthy occurrences in the world's
history, for all posterity to read, and although no Rosetta
stone has been found as yet to enable the present race of
man to decipher their meaning, still the problem attacked
by the ablest savants of all nations has yielded theories re-
specting the origin and purposes of the constellations that
cannot be far from the truth.
In the very dawn of the world, when human instinct first
inspired observation, primitive man began to look about
him and take stock of his environment. The daily wants of
3
4 Star Lore of All Ages
nature supplied, the natural phenomena would claim man's
attention, and first he would take cognisance of tl^e sun,
moon, and stars that provided life's chief essential, light.
For purposes of identification alone, there must have been
at an early date certain designations for the individual
stars that gave rise to all subsequent stellar nomenclature.
The sun, moon, and planets, the brighter luminaries, would
first excite man's interest and attention, and then the
brightest stars would attract and mystify him.
As time went on, observation would soon indicate to
human intelUgence the relationship of the sun and moon
to the fixed stars, and the seasonable difference in the ap-
pearance of the nocturnal skies.
All this would be in strict accord with the natural laws of
the observational faculties. Such elementary knowledge
of the heavenly bodies would presently lead to the estabHsh-
ment of certain facts relative to the stars, features con-
cerning their apparent change in position, that if marked
would render a service to the race.
Very early in the history of the world the stars must have
served to record the passage of time, a service they have
faithfully and accurately rendered mankind through all the
ages to the present day.
The first tillers of the soil must have marked well the
stars, and certain of them doubtless proclaimed the time of
sowing and reaping. The circumpolar stars guided the
rude crafts of the early navigators, and unquestionably in
the earliest times they singled out ''the star that never
moves," Polaris, as an unfailing and reliable beacon to
direct their course.
The rising and setting of the stars thus became matters of
paramount importance, governing alike the actions of the
husbandmen and those who sailed the seas. Certain stars
were also indicative of impending meteorological changes,
and their appearance at particular seasons was watched
for with keenest interest.
The wonder and mystery the stars inspired, and their
The Origin of Ancient Star Groups 5
utility in daily life, soon led to their becoming objects of
idolatry, and as their importance increased, astrology, that
pseudo-science, Kepler's "foolish daughter of a wise
mother," sprang into being, and for a time suppressed,
discouraged, and hampered the legitimate and scientific
study of the heavens.
Thus early in the history of man we find the stars all-]
important to his welfare. No coiu-se was pursued or plan
adopted without first consulting the heavenly bodies. They
governed alike the policies of nations and the actions of in-
dividuals. They ruled absolutely over the destinies of the
high and lowly, the rich and poor, and horoscopes became a
necessity of life, and divination the highest pursuit of man.
In Sabianism, or star worship, we have, therefore, the
earliest form of religion, and in astrology and the adoration
of the stars the progenitors of the modem science of
astronomy.
From this universal attention to the stars, there sprang!
up the myriad fancies and peculiar notions, the products'
of imagination, that peopled the sky with animals and'
quaint figures, and gave rise to the constellated stellar
groups that have come down to us, and figure on the modem
charts of the heavens.
There are many traditions that have emerged from the
mists that shroud the distant past respecting the origin
of the constellations, and the science of astronomy, and
as that origin is antediluvian, the knowledge that we have
of the subject must perforce be largely traditional in its
character.
An early tradition affirms that the immediate descend-
ants of Adam cultivated a knowledge of the stars, and that
Seth and Enoch inscribed upon two pillars, one of brick, the
other of stone, the names, meanings, secret virtues, and
science of the stars, with the divisions of the zodiac.
Josephus states that he saw in Syria the pillar of stone,
which alone remained in his day. The history of two mys-
terious pillars entwined with a serpent, the symbol of revo-
6 Star Lore of All Ages
lution, can be traced through all the ages, from remote
antiquity until it reaches our dollar sign
Then there is a tradition that has siu-vived the ages, that
Noah, who was also known as Cannes and Janus, was the
inventor of astronomy. It is certain that Noah and his
family were soon worshipped and inextricably mixed with
stars and gods.
The Chaldeans attributed their knowledge of the stars
to Noah, who became a two-faced deity, as he could look
backwards and forwards. He was known as "the God of
Gates," as he opened the door which God shut, and Noah
and the Ark became Janus and Jana, solar and lunar
deities. Of all this tradition meets us everywhere.
It is a remarkable fact that, from the earliest times, as
far as we can judge from the cuneiform inscriptions and
hieroglyphics that have been deciphered, the sign for God
was a star.
Astronomy unites with history and archaeology in point-
ing to the Euphrates Valley, and, as we might expect, the
region /of Mt. Ararat, as the home of those who originated
the ancient constellation figures.
Authorities agree, for the most part, that the originators
of Sabianism and stellar lore in this region were not the
Semitic Babylonians, but a people generally termed
"Akkadians," a word meaning highlanders, or mountain-
eers, the most ancient race known to us, who came down
from the mountainous region of Elam or Susiana, to the
east of Assyria, bringing with them the rudiments of writ-
ing and civilisation.
The Babylonians, previous to the invasion of the Ak-
kadai, unquestionably had some knowledge of the stars.
It was thought in those early times that the mountains on
the east supported the firmament, and that the zenith
was fixed over Elam. There were observatories estab-
lished in all the large cities of Chaldea, many of the shrines
on the topmost terraces being dedicated to this purpose,
and at an early date the stars were named and numbered.
The Origin of Ancient Star Groups 7
The Babylonian Tablets, the oldest records extant, re-
veal that the Akkadians introduced their sphere and zodiac
into Babylonia before the year 3000 b.c, and the zodiac of
the Akkadians corresponds almost exactly with the signs
we know to-day.
It seems almost folly to endeavour to set the date of the
invention of the constellations, for that period must ap-
proximate the age of the habitable world, and in all prob-
ability the stellar figures known to us were not designed
at any one time, and lost their originality by the varying
conditions that time has wrought in the past, for even in
comparatively recent years there have been many attempts
to alter them.
Bailly, a brilliant scholar and eminent astronomer, con-
tends that the phenomena of astronomy had been closely
observed before the great races of mankind separated from
the parent stock. He claims, and few would dispute him,
an antediluvian race as the originators of astronomical
science. In proof of this he cites the fact that there are
ancient Persian records which refer to the four famous
"Royal Stars" as having marked the four colures (the
meridian points of the solstices and equinoxes), a fact only
possible in antediluvian times.
Maunder, who has made a very careful study of archae-
ology in its relation to the constellational figures, has
revealed many interesting features in connection with them.
He writes :
"The first feature which the old constellation figures
present to us is a very striking one. They cover only a por-
tion of the heavens, and a large region roughly circular in
the southern hemisphere is left entirely vacant. Swartz
was the first to make the significant suggestion that this
space was left vacant because the inventors of the constel-
lations Hved too far north to permit of their viewing this
part of the heavens."
Pursuing this line of thought. Maunder considers that
the designers of the figures lived, in all probability,
8 Star Lore of All Ages
between 36° and 42" north latitude, so that the constella-
tions did not originate in Egypt or Babylon. By comput-
ing where the centre of the vacant space coincided with the
southern pole, we get the date 2800 B.C., which was prob-
ably the date when the ancient work of constellation mak-
ing was completed.
It has been remarked that among the constellation
figures conspicuous by their absence are the following
animals: the elephant, the camel, the hippopotamus, the
crocodile, and the tiger, so it is reasonably safe to assume
that neither India, Arabia, nor Egypt was the birthplace of
the sphere. Greece, Italy, and Spain may be excluded on
the ground that the lion figures as one of the constellations.
We have left Asia Minor and Armenia, a region bounded
by the Black, Mediterranean, Caspian, and ^Egean seas,
as the logical birthplace of the stellar figures. The fact
that we find a ship among the stars warrants us in believing
that it is on the coast of this country, and not in its in-
terior, that we should expect to find the land where the con-
stellations were first known.
The division of the zodiac into twelve signs, the number of
months in the year, is one of very great significance, for we
infer from the fact that it was so arranged to assist in the
observation of the position of the sun among the stars.
Many of the authorities hold that the zodiac was planned
while the spring equinox fell in the constellation Taurus.
In support of this claim it may be said that, if this is the
case, the sun was ascending all through the signs that face
the east, and was descending all through the signs that face
the west, a sigrnficant and logical arrangement which could
hardly be accidental.
The date of the zodiac is given as 3000 B.C., which agrees
very well with the significant position of the four Royal
Stars previously mentioned which marked the four card-
inal points, and were thus especially prominent.
A close inspection of the stellar groups yields many
points of interest, notably the fact that everywhere there
The Origin of Ancient Star Groups 9
is indication of design and not chance in the arrangement
and configuration. There seems to have been a definite
idea in some one's mind respecting them, a desire to per-
petuate a vitally important record. It may be of interest
to mention a few of the facts that have inclined scholars
to this belief:
To begin with, we find many figures duplicated, and in
most cases the two figures are close together in the sky.
Thus we see the figures of two Dogs, two Bears, two Giants
subduing Serpents, each pair in close proximity. Then
there are two Goats, two Crowns, two Streams, and two
Fishes bound together.
The zodiacal constellations are often clearly connected
with neighbouring figures. We observe the Bull attacked
by the Giant Hunter Orion, Aquarius pouring a stream of
water into the mouth of the Southern Fish, the Scorpion
attempting to sting Ophiuchus, and the Ram pressing
down the head of the Sea Monster.
Again, one portion of the sky was known to the ancients
as "the Sea," and here we find, as we might expect, many
marine creatures, — the Dolphin, the Whale, the Fishes, the
Sea Goat, and the Southern Fish.
Other features in support of the theory of design are
found in the half-figures, Pegasus, Taurus, and Argo, and
the so-called Deluge group, comprising the Ship stranded
on a rock, the Bird, the Altar, the Centaur offering a sac-
rifice, and the Bow set in the Cloud.
It is supposed that, at a time far remote, the Akkadians
, were conquered by the Semitic race, and that the con-
1 querors imposed only their language on the conquered,
adopting, it is said, the Akkadian mythology, laws, litera-
ture, and system of astronomy.
At an early date in the world's history we find astronomy
and astrology flourishing in China, India, Arabia, and
Egypt.
The early astronomical annals of the Chinese reveal the
fact that, before the year 2357 B.C., the Emperor Yao had
10 Star Lore of All Ages
divided the twelve zodiacal signs by the twenty-eight
mansions of the moon.^
The Arabians are said to have received their astronomi-
cal knowledge from India, and in China, Arabia, and India
we find an almost identical system, i.e., that of the Lunar
Stations, or Lunar Mansions, employed to indicate the
daily progress of the moon amid the stars.
India has been claimed as the birthplace of the constella-
tion figures, but modern research, says Allen, finds little
in Sanscrit literature to confirm this belief.
There is a controversy as to whether Indian astronomy
was derived from Greece or independent of it. In sup-
port of the latter theory, it is said that the Brahmins were
too proud to borrow their science from the Greeks or
Arabs, and also that it was improbable that two rival
Hindu sects, the Brahmins and Buddhists, should have
adopted the same innovations in their calendars and re-
ligious symbolism. Again, the Greeks held Indian as-
tronomy in high esteem, while the Hindus only bestowed a
moderate praise on the Grecian science.
The Egyptians, on whose early monuments the twelve
zodiacal signs are found, acknowledged that they derived
their knowledge of the stars from the Chaldeans, and they
were in turn the teachers of the Greeks as early as the time
of Thales and Pythagoras.
Herodotus states that the Egyptians were the first of all
mankind who invented the year and divided it into twelve
parts, a statement much at variance to the accepted testi-
mony of the Babylonian Tablets.
Of the constellations outside the zodiac, we find a few
groups and stars mentioned at an early date, notably in
the Old Testament, where, in the Book of Job, there are
references to the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, names that
have come down to us. Homer and Hesiod both mentioned
' It is of interest to note that the Chinese were called "Celestials"
because their empire was divided after the Celestial spaces.
The Origin of Ancient Star Groups ii
the same constellations, which is indicative of the import-
ance of these star groups in the eyes of the ancients.
Hesiod also refers to the stars Arcturus and Sirius, and
these two stars may well be considered the most ancient
of all the stars from the standpoint of stellar nomenclature.
Authorities dififer as to the source from which the Greek
knowledge of the stars was derived, but in all probability
it did not come from any one source but was imported from
Egypt, Chaldea, and Phoenicia.
The founder of the science of astronomy in Greece was
Thales, the head of the Ionic School of Philosophy, a
citizen of Miletus, who lived about 540 B.C. It is said
that he first taught the Greek navigators to steer by the
Little instead of the Great Bear.
Eudoxus, a native of Cnidus, who lived about the fourth
century B.C., a contemporary of Plato, was the first Greek
who described the constellations with approximate com-
pleteness. He is reported to have visited Egypt and to
have there received astronomical instruction. He wrote
The Enopiion, or The Mirror, and The Phenomena or
Appearances, both prose works and unfortunately not
extant, but Aratos, the Alexandrine poet, versified the
latter work about 270 B.C., and it has descended to our
day.
Aratos was a native of Soli in Cilicia, and Court Physi-
cian tor Antigonus Gonatas, King of Macedonia. He was a
contemporary of Aristophanes, Aristarchus, and Theocritus,
and he always mentions the constellations as of unknown
antiquity. His sphere accurately represented the heavens
of about 2000 B.C. His poem has been considered an
authority on stellar nomenclature, and has been closely
followed by all subsequent delineators of the constella-
tion figures.
This sphere of Eudoxus, which has been transmitted to
us through the verses of Aratos, contained forty-five con-
stellations, twenty in the northern hemisphere, twelve in
the southern, and thirteen in the zodiacal group, the
12 Star Lore of All Ages
Pleiades being considered as a separate constellation in
addition to Taurus.
Allen makes the following interesting reference to this
famous poem: "When the poem entitled The Phenomena
of Aratos was introduced at Rome by Cicero and other
leading characters, we read that it became the polite amuse-
ment of the Roman ladies to work the celestial forms in gold
and silver on the most costly hangings, and this had pre-
viously been done at Athens, where concave ceilings were
also emblazoned with the heavenly figures."
The Phenomena is the most ancient description of the
constellations extant, and has been translated into all
languages. Cicero and Germanicus Cassar both made
translations of it, and no less than thirty -five Greek com-
mentaries on the work are known to us.
Eudoxus considered the heavens as divided up into con-
stellations with recognised names. "He did not deal with
the stars singly, but gave a sort of geographic description
of their territorial position and limits, according to groups,
distinguished by a common name." His work's chief
value consists in the comprehensive view of the heavens
it affords, and in the description of the constellated
heavens in their entirety.
Although the contributions of Eudoxus and Aratos to
astronomical literature are highly regarded and authorita-
tive, the acknowledged founder of our scientific astronomy
is Hipparchus, who was the first to discover the perpetual
and apparent shifting of the stars known as the Preces-
sion of the Equinoxes. Only two of his works have come
down to us, his Commentary, and the reproduction of his
Star Catalogue by Ptolemy, who was known as "the
Prince of Astronomers." This catalogue enimierated
1022 stars, of which 914 form constellations, and 108 are
unformed. It is held in much respect even by modem
astronomers, and agrees in the main with the enumeration
of Aratos. Procyon, however, appears as a constellation,
and the asterism Equuleus, the foremost Horse, is added,
Ptolemy
National Museum, Naples
The Origin 6f Ancient Star Groups 1 3
an asterism that figures on modem star maps. The obser-
vations of Hipparchus were made between 162 and 127
B.C., while those of Ptolemy embodied in the Syntaxis, as
his work was entitled, were made from 127 to 151 a.d.
The Syntaxis was practically an epitome of the results
of the early star-gazers of Greece and Western Asia, and
comprised a list of 1028 stars classified in forty-eight con-
stellations. Each star is named by its position in the figiure
supposed to include the stars of the group. Thus the con-
stellation Draco contains thirty-one stars, some of which
received the following descriptive names: "the star upon
the tongue," "the star in the mouth," "the star above the
eye," etc. This method of naming the stars continued in
use until the eighteenth century, when a letter or a number
with the Latin genitive of the constellation was used. In
Ptolemy's catalogue appears the first comparative list
of stellar magnitudes.
The constellations of the Greeks were ultimately ac-
cepted and adopted by the Persians, Hindus, Arabs, the
nations of Western Asia, and the Romans, from whom they
have been borrowed by the modem world. To Greece,
then, we are indebted for the figures now depicted on otir
celestial globes and the many interesting myths associated
with them, notably the legend of Perseus and Andromeda,
which is fully illustrated in the starry skies.
Although the savages of prehistoric times first be-
queathed the stellar configurations to science, we listen
to their harsh ideas, as Bacon puts it, "as they come to
us blown softly through the flutes of the Grecians."
From the time of Ptolemy till the year 1252, no advance
of importance was made in the matter of cataloguing the
stars, but in this latter year there appeared the celebrated
Alphonsine Tables compiled by Arabian or Moorish as-
tronomers at Toledo under the auspices of the subsequent
King Alphonso X., known as "the Wise."
A correction of Ptolemy's sphere was published by the
Arabian astronomer Ulugh Beg in 1420 a.d., in which there
14 Star Lore of All Ages
was a description of the constellations derived from Al-
Sufi's translation of five centuries previously.
The catalogues of Copernicus and Tycho Brahe followed,
the former's great work laying the foundations of modern
astronomy. In 1603 the Uranometria oi ]oha.nn Bayer ap-
peared in Germany. This chart contained forty-eight con-
stellations and a list of 709 stars. Bayer invented the system
in vogue to-day of denoting each star by a letter of the
Greek alphabet, the brightest star in each figure being desig-
nated Alpha with the Latin genitive of the constellation.
It was soon found that the stars in many of the groups ex-
ceeded the number of letters in the alphabet, and such
stars were denoted by the letters of the Roman alphabet.
Succeeding Bayer's catalogue there appeared consecu-
tively the charts of Bartsch, Schiller, Kepler, Royer,
Halley, and in 1690 that of Hevelius, who added the as-
terisms of the Hunting Dogs, the Giraffe, the Lizard, the
Unicom, the Lynx, the Sextant, Fox and Goose, and
Sobieski's Shield, all recognised by modern astronomers.^
Flamsteed's catalogue, published in 17 19, comprised
fifty-four constellation figures, and exhibited a new method
of stellar designation, the stars being consecutively num-
bered in the order of their right ascension, a method em-
ployed in modern charts for the fainter stars.
La Caille, known as "the true Colimibus of the southern
sky," in his publications of 1752 and 1763, invented
fourteen new star groups which included the names of
many instruments of the sciences and fine arts, the ma-
jority of which have been rejected by modern delineators
of the constellations.
» In the case of the charts of Bartsch and Schiller it is of interest to
note that these astronomers endeavoured to do away for all time with
the old constellation names, and Christianise, so to speak, the stellar
hosts. On their charts the twelve Apostles were each represented by a
constellation, and other Biblical names were substituted for the time-
honoured figures. It is needless to add that this nomenclature was not
popular and failed of general adoption.
The Origin of Ancient Star Groups 15
Subsequently Le Monnier, Bode, and Lalande published
stellar catalogues, adding new asterisms, the latter's chart
containing a total of eighty-eight constellations.
In 1840 the famous German astronomer Argelander pub-
lished his star catalogue, the most complete that had
appeared up to that time. It contained 210,000 stars.
Argelander brought order where there had been much con-
fusion, by separating one constellation from another by
irregular boundary lines, so that all the stars would be
embraced within the borders of some stellar figure. His
system is employed in many of the modern charts of the
heavens.*
To-day there are over a hundred large catalogues of the
stars, but there is a discrepancy in the number of constel-
lations accepted by astronomers. Prof. Young recognised
sixty-seven as in ordinary use, and in these northern lati-
tudes about fifty-five are generally known.
Allen tells us that "eighty or ninety may be considered
as now more or less acknowledged, while probably a million
stars are laid down on the various modem maps, and
this is soon to be increased perhaps to forty million on
the completion of the present photographic work for
this object by the international association of eighteen
observatories engaged upon it in different parts of the
world."
In conclusion, it may be of interest to review briefly the
conception of the firmament in vogue in ancient times
among the different nations of the old world.
The Persians are said to have considered 3000 years ago
that the whole heavens were divided up into foiur great
districts, each watched over by one of the "Royal Stars,"
Aldebaran, Antares, Regulus, and Fomalhaut.
' Photography has played an important part in stellar catalogues of
recent years, Kapteyn's chart made up from plates taken at Cape Town
containing over 300,000 stars, and every year approximately 2000
plates of the heavens are taken by the astronomers in charge of the
Harvard College Observatory Station at Arequipa, Peru.
i6 Star Lore of All Ages
The Assyrians looked upon the stars as divinities, en-
dowed with beneficent or evil powers.
Among the Chaldeans the sky was regarded as a boat,
shaped like a basket. The space below was the earth,
which was flat and surrounded by water.
The Egyptians worshipped Osiris and Isis as ancestors,
and showed Plutarch their graves, and the stars into which
they had been metamorphosed.
The ancient Peruvians thought that there was not a
beast or bird on earth whose shape or image did not shine
in the sky. They considered the limiinaries and stars
guardian divinities and worshipped them. They also
thought that the stars were the children of the sun and
moon.
The Hebrews had a notion that the sun, moon, and stars
danced before Adam in Paradise.
The Bushmen, or early inhabitants of Africa, regarded
the more conspicuous stars as men, lions, tortoises, etc.
They believed that the sun, moon, and stars were once
mortals on earth, or even animals, or inorganic substances
which happened to get translated to the skies.
In New Zealand heroes were thought to become stars of
greater or less brightness according to the number of their
victims slain in battle.
The North American Indians believed that many of the
stars were living creatures, and knew Ursa Major as a Bear,
the same figure known in the Far East.
The Tannese Islanders divided the heavens into con-
stellations with definite traditions to account for the canoes,
ducks, and children that they see in the skies.
In the South Pacific islands dying men will announce
their intention of becoming a star, and even mention the
particular part of the heavens where they are to be looked
for.
The Eskimos thought that some of the stars had been
men and others different sorts of animals and fishes, which
was also the mythical belief of the Greeks and Romans.
The Origin of Ancient Star Groups 1 7
According to Slavonic mythology the stars are regarded as
living in habitual intercourse with men and their affairs.
An ancient legend was that there were no stars till the
giants of old, throwing stones at the sun, pierced holes in
the sky, and let the light of that orb shine through the holes
which we call stars, — and Anaximenes thought that the
stars were fixed in the dome of heaven like nails.
Thus we find, as some one has put it, that "astronomy
like a golden thread runs through history and binds to-
gether all tribes and peoples of the earth," and the girdle
of stars we view nightly remains as the most ancient monu-
ment, of the work of intelligent man, "the oldest picture
book of aU."
Andromeda
The Chained Lady
19
OAlgol
\4 Gloria
O — ^'c 1
—^ FrederUai
Alptieratz ^
\
V
/
^^
ANDROMEDA
ANDROMEDA
THE CHAINED LADY
And there revolves herself, image of woe,
Andromeda, beneath her mother shining.
Aratos.
The origin of the constellation known to us as Androm-
eda is lost in remote antiquity, but the myth that relates
to Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia,
and associated with the constellation, is probably as well
known to-day as any that has come down to us. Ac-
cording to this mjrth, Cassiopeia boasted that she was
fairer than the sea nymphs. This attitude was offensive
to Neptune, who despatched a monster of the deep to
ravage the seacoast. Cassiopeia, terrified at the pro-
spect, besought the aid of the all-powerful Zeus, who ruled
that her daughter Andromeda must be sacrificed to ap-
pease the wrath of the sea god. Consequently Andromeda,
amid great lamentation, was chained to a wave- washed
rock, there to await the coming of the sea monster to de-
vour her.
In accordance with this legend, we find the constella-
tion Andromeda depicted in the old star atlases as a beauti-
ful maiden chained to a rock, with Cetus the Whale or the
sea monster represented near at hand about to devour
her.
In Burritt's atlas, » Andromeda is represented with
chains attached to her wrists and ankles. The rock to
which she was said to have been bound does not appear in
the picture.
» Geography of the Heavens, by Elijah H. Burritt.
21
22 Star Lore of All Ages
In the edition of the Alphonsine tables, Allen tells us
Andromeda is pictured with an unfastened chain around
her body, and two fishes, one on her bosom and the other
at her feet, showing an early connection with the neigh-
bouring constellation Pisces.
In the Leyden Manuscript, Andromeda is represented
as lying partly clothed on the sea beach, chained to rocks
on either side, and on a map printed at Venice in 1488 she
is pictured as bound by the wrists between two trees.
The legend further relates that Perseus, flying through
the air on his steed Pegasus, fresh from his triumph over
the Medusa, espied the maiden* in distress, and like a true
champion flew to her assistance.
Chained to a rock she stood; young Perseus stay'd
His rapid flight, to woo the beauteous maid.
Holding the Medusa's head before him, he assailed the
sea monster that threatened Andromeda, and immediately
the creature was turned to stone, and the hero had the
pleasure of releasing the wretched maiden.
For the statement that Perseus when he freed Androm-
eda was mounted on his winged steed Pegasus, there is
however no classical authority.
The constellation Andromeda is bounded on the west
by Pegasus, and on the east by Perseus, and thus links the
two constellations together. This dgubtless accounts for
the presence of Pegasus in the myth.
Brown* thinks that in this legend of Andromeda and
Perseus we have but another version of the all-pervading
solar myth. Perseus may be Bar-Sav, the solar Herakles,
and Andromeda his bride Schachar (the morning red).
The Hindus have almost the same story in their astro-
nomical mythology, and almost the same names that have
come down to us. They call the constellation "Antar-
mada." In an ancient Sanscrit work are found draw-
» Stellar Mythology, by Robert Brown, Jr.
4
o
u
-a
c m
ClJ ^
a.
Andromeda, the Chained Lady 23
ings of Antarmada chained to a rock with a fish beside
her.
Sappho, the Greek poetess of the 7th century B.C., re-
fers to Andromeda, and Eiiripides and Sophocles both
wrote dramas about her, — but there is little doubt, as Allen
states, that the constellation originated far back of classi-
cal times in the valley of the Euphrates.
Plunket* is of the opinion that the constellation of An-
dromeda dates from 3500 B.C. in accordance with the other
constellations around it, and there is some ground for be-
lieving that its date goes back to 6000 B.C.
In Dr. Seiss's mythology, Andromeda was intended for a
prophetic symbol of the Christian church. Sayce claims
that she appeared in the great Babylonian Epic of Creation
of more than two millenniums before our era, in connec-
tion with the story of Bel Marduk and the dragon Tiamat,
which doubtless is the foimdation of the story of Per-
seus and Andromeda.
The constellation Andromeda has borne the following
names :
Mulier Catenata, the woman chained.
Persea, as the bride of Perseus.
Cepheis, from her father.
Alamac, from the title of the star Gamma.
Some authorities claim that Andromeda was a native of
iEthiopia and regard her as a negress. The Arabian as-
tronomers knew these stars as "Al mar 'ah al musalsalah,"
and to them they represented a sea calf or seal with
a chain around its neck that united it to one of the two
fishes.
Allen states that according to Csesius, Andromeda re-
presented the biblical Abigail of the Books of Samuel, and
Julius Schiller in 1627 made of these stars the Sepulchrum
Christi, the new Sepulchre wherein was never man yet
laid.
'Ancient Calendars and Constellations, by E. M. Plunket.
24 Star Lore of All Ages
Milton in his Paradise Lost thus refers to Andromeda:
the fleecy star that bears
Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
Beyond the horizon.
Kingsley's Andromeda is beautifully descriptive of the
constellation.
Pluche' accounts for the names of the constellations
Perseus, Andromeda, and Cepheus in the following in-
genius way:
It was an ordinary turn of the Hebrew and Phoenician
languages to say that a city or country was the daughter of
the rocks, deserts, rivers, or moimtains that surrounded
her or that were enclosed within her walls. Thus Jerusa-
lem is often called "the daughter of Sion," that is, the
daughter of drought or daughter of the barren hills con-
tained within its compass. Palestine originally was no-
thing more than a long maritime coast consisting of rocks
and a sandy flat shore. It was proper to speak of this
long coast as the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiope, Cepha
signifying a stone. If you would say in Phoenician, a long
coast or a long chain or ridge, you would call it Androm-
eda. Palestine would have been destroyed had it not
been for the assistance of the barks and pilots that voyaged
to Pharos and Sais to convey provisions. Strabo informs
us that the Phoenicians were accustomed to paint the figure
of a horse upon the stem of their barks, but there was
beside the winged horse (the emblem of navigation) a
horseman bearing a peculiar symbol, and, as it were, the
arms of the city of Sais. This was the Medusa's head.
Furthermore, a bark in the vulgar tongue was called Per-
seus, which means a runner or horseman. This then ac-
cording to Pluche was the meaning of the fabled sacrifice
of Andromeda: — Exposed to a cruel monster on the rocks
of Joppa, in Syria, Andromeda (or the coast towns of
Palestine) , owed her deliverance to a flying rider, Perseus
» History of the Heavens, by Abb6 Pluche
Andromeda, the Chained Lady 25
(the Phoenician barks), to whom the goddess of Sais had
lent the frightful head of Medusa to turn all her enemies
into stone with terror. Josephus wrote that in his day the
inhabitants of Joppa showed the links and remains of the
chain that bound Andromeda to the rock, and the bones
of the sea monster.
Burritt suggests that the fable of Andromeda might
mean that the maiden was courted by some monster of
a sea captain who attempted to carry her away, but was
prevented by another more gallant and successful rival.
Maunder^ claims that in the 12th chapter of the Apoc-
alypse there is an allusion to what cannot be doubted are
the constellations Andromeda, Cetus, and Eridanus : "And
the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water
as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by
the stream." Andromeda is always represented as a
woman in distress, and the sea monster has always been
understood to be her persecutor, and from his mouth potu-s
forth the stream Eridanus.
The constellation Andromeda presents a beautiful ap-
pearance rising in the eastern sky in the early evening
during the months of autumn. Low over the hills twinkle
her chain of stars, sweeping down in a long graceful curve
from the Great Square of Pegasus, like tiny lamps swing-
ing from an invisible wire, a chain of gold with which
heroic Perseus holds in check his winged steed.
Astronomically speaking, the great feature of interest
in the constellation is the famous nebula, the so-called
"Queen of the Nebulae," or Al Sufi's "Little Cloud," said
to have been known as far back as A.D. 905. In the West
it seems to have been first observed by Simon Marius,
Dec. 15, 1612. It is the only naked eye nebula, and
according to Marius it resembles "the diluted light from
the flame of a candle seen through horn." An arc light
gHmpsed through a dense fog is also descriptive of its
» The Astronomy of the Bible, by E. M. Maunder.
26 Star Lore of All Ages
naked eye appearance. ^ It is an enormous body, estimated
to be in length as much as thirty thousand times the dis-
tance of the earth from the sun (ninety- three million miles),
a proportion inconceivable. Herschel thought that the
nebula was resolvable into separate stars, although his
glass failed to prove the fact. Later observations with
more powerful telescopes confirmed his opinion. An exami-
nation made at Cambridge in 1848 proved the existence
of upwards of fifteen hundred minute stars within the
nebula, while the nebulous character of the whole was
still apparent. In the spectroscope this nebula gives
clearly a continuous spectrum, thus proving that it is not
a mass of incandescent gas but rather a highly condensed
cluster of stars. Recent and more reliable calculations of
its distance give it a light journey of about nineteen
years.
The star Alpha Andromedas, or Alpheratz as it was
called by the Arabs, was formerly associated with the con-
stellation Pegasus, and called Delta Pegasi. The Arabs also
knew this star as "Sirrah," and it represented to them the
horse's navel. Alpheratz is situated at the north-eastern
corner of the Great Square of Pegasus, a stellar landmark,
and is known as one of the "Three Guides," marking
the equinoctial colure, the prime meridian of the heavens,
Beta Cassiopeiae and Gamma Pegasi being the other two
guides. In astrology Alpheratz portended honour and
riches to all bom under its influence. It culminates at
9 P.M., on the loth of November. Alpheratz is situated in
the head of the figure of Andromeda, and was familiarly
known as "Andromeda's Head" in England two centuries
ago. In all late Arabian astronomy taken from Ptolemy
it was described as the "Head of the Woman in Chains."
According to Prof. Russell, Alpheratz has a dark com-
panion spectroscopically revealed, revolving about it in a
* While Serviss says it resembles a whirlwind of snow, and the ap-
pearance of swift motion and terrific force is startling.
Great Nebula in Andromeda
Andromeda, the Chained Lady 27
highly eccentric orbit, in a period of about one hundred
days.
Gamma Andromedae was known to the Arabs as "Al-
mach." Allen tells us this name was derived from a phrase
meaning a small predatory animal similar to a badger.
The propriety of such a designation here is not obvious in
connection with Andromeda, and the name would indicate
that it belonged to a very early Arab astronomy. In the
astronomy of China, Gamma, with other stars in Androm-
eda and Triangulum, was "Tien Ta Tseang," "Heaven's
Great General." Astrologically this star was "honourable
and eminent." The duplicity of Almach according to Allen
was discovered by Johann Tobias Mayer of Gottingen in
1778, and Wilhelm Struve in 1842 found that its com-
panion was a close double. Herschel regarded Almach
as one of the most beautiful objects in the heavens, and
Webb, Proctor, and Serviss all speak in glowing terms of the
beautiful contrast in colour between the gold and blue of
the primary and its companion. Almach certainly vies in
beauty with the famous double Beta Cygni, and is perhaps
with this exception the most charming of all double stars.
It is an easy double for small telescopes and is conse-
quently a great favourite with amateur astronomers. It re-
quires a 5" glass at least to split the blue companion star.
The celebrated meteor shower known as "the Andromedes
IL," the so-called Bielid meteors of November, radiate
from the vicinity of this star. There was a wonderful
display of these meteors in 1872 and 1885. Delta An-
dromedae marks the radiant point of the Andromedes I.,
a meteor shower due the 21st of July.
The fourth magnitude stars X, x, i Andromedae and the
fifth magnitude star ^ Andromedae form a "Y "-shaped
figure which bears the name of "Gloria Frederica" or
Frederick's Glory, an asterism formed by Bode in 1787 in
honour of the great Frederick II., of Prussia, who died in
1 786. The figure is thus described : " Below a nimbus the
sign of royal dignity hangs, wreathed with the imperishable
28 Star Lore of All Ages
laurel of fame, a sword, pen, and an olive branch, to dis-
tinguish this ever to be remembered monarch, as hero, sage,
and peacemaker." This figure, with the exception of the
nimbus, appears on Burritt's Atlas, but later atlases omit
the asterism entirely, and it is seldom mentioned.
The remaining stars in this constellation require no
special mention.
Aquarius
The Water Bearer
39
The Water Jas
4
SadalMelik.
AQUARIUS
AQUARIUS
THE WATER BEARER
While by the Horse's head the Water-Pourer
Spreads his right hand.
ASATOS.
The astronomers of all nations, with the exception of
the Arabians, have adopted the figure of a man pouring
water from a jar or pitcher to express this constellation.
The Arabs, being forbidden by law to draw the human
figure, have represented this sign by a saddled mule carry-
ing on his back two barrels of water, and sometimes by
only a water bucket. They called the constellation "Al-
Dawl," the "Well Bucket," and not the "Water Bearer."
For some reason, all the ancients imagined that the part
of the sky occupied by the Water Bearer and neighbouring
constellations contained a great celestial sea. Here we
find the Whale, the Fishes, the Dolphin, the Southern Fish,
the Sea Goat, the Crane, (a wading bird), and even Erida-
nus, the River Po, is sometimes shown as having its source
in the Waterman's Bucket. It also seems appropriate that
Pegasus is situated in this region of the sky, for the winged
horse was the Phoenician emblem of navigation, and the
star Markab, as Alpha Pegasi was called by the Arabs,
signifies a ship or vehicle.
According to Ideler, the reason for this designation of
" the Sea" for this region of the heavens is because the sun
passes through this part of the sky during the rainy season
of the year.
An Egyptian legend averred that the floods of the Nile
were caused by the Water Bearer sinking his huge urn into
31
32 Star Lore of All Ages
the fountains of the river to refill it, and accordingly this
constellation represented to the Egyptians the rainy period
of the winter season. However, the Egyptians were prob-
ably indebted to some other people for their knowledge of
this constellation, for Egypt is not a land subject to heavy
rains.
Aquarius is represented even on very early Babylonian
stones as a man or boy pouring water from a bucket or
um ; around the waist is a scarf, part of which is held up by
the left hand. For some reason, which is lost to us, his
right arm is stretched backward to the fullest extent pos-
sible so as to reach over almost the entire length of the con-
stellation Capricomus, which bounds Aquarius on the
west.
The significance of the pouring of the water from the
urn into the mouth of the Southern Fish is also unaccounted
for. The conception is such a singular and striking one
that it was evidently the result of design rather than fancy.
Maunder referring to this peculiar figure says: "Strangely
enough through all the long centuries that the starry sym-
bols have come down to us, Aquarius has always been shown
as pouring forth his stream of water into the mouth of a
fish, surely the strangest and most bizarre of symbols."
According to Norse mjrthology, Aquarius was considered
Wali's palace, and it was supposed to be covered with silver.
In the Indian zodiac, the name of the constellation is
"Kumbha," meaning "Water Jar." Allen states that
Kumbha is from xotx^Y], or Storm-god. Here again we
find the constellation associated with rain and tempest.
Brown tells us that Aquarius in the Hebrew zodiac re-
presented the tribe of Reuben, "unstable as water."
In Greek mythology, Aquarius represented Ganymede,
the cup-bearer of the gods. Ganymede was a beautiful
youth of Phrygia, and the son of Tros, King of Troy. He
was taken up to heaven by Jupiter as he was tending his
father's flocks on Mt. Ida, and became the cup-bearer of
the gods in place of Hebe.
Photo by Anderson
Ganymede and the Eagle
Museum of Vatican, Rome
Aquarius, the Water Bearer 33
In a Roman zodiac, Aquarius was represented by a pea-
cock, the symbol of Juno, the Greek Here, in whose month
Gamelion (Jan.-Feb.) the sun was in this sign. Aquarius
has also been represented as a goose, another bird sacred
to the goddess.
In February, the Aquarius month, the sun entered the
Peruvian sign known by the name "Mother of Waters"
and "Eagle Bridge." The Water Mother was figured as a
sacred lake located in the Southern Fish and the Crane.
The month of February marks the height of the rainy
season in the Andes, and the rivers are then in flood so
that the powers of the Mother of Waters are at this season
most conspicuously displayed.
Allen' states that the New Testament Christians of the
l6th and 17th centuries appropriately likened Aquarius
to John the Baptist and to Judas Thaddasus the Apostle.
In Babylonia thi:; constellation was associated with the
nth month (Jan.-Feb.), called "Shabatu," meaning "the
Curse of Rain," and the Epic of Creation has an account
of the Deluge in its nth book, corresponding to this the
nth constellation, each of its other books numerically
coinciding with the other zodiacal signs. In that country
an urn seems to have been known as "Gu," meaning a
water-jar overflowing. Plunket tells us that "Gu" is
possibly an abbreviation of "Gula," the name of a goddess.
This goddess under another name was a personification of
the dark water or chaos, hence the identification of the
goddess Gula with the constellation Aquarius.
In the cuneiform inscriptions of western Asia we read:
"The planet Jupiter in the asterism of th,e Urn lingers."
Considering the imagined aqueous nature of this region of
the sky it is not difficult, as Plunket says, to understand
how the Vedic Rishis, who appear to have combined the
characteristics of poets, scientists, and observers of the
heavens, should have in 3000 B.C., when the sun was in
* Star Names and Their Meanings, by Richard H. Allen.
3
tmii^>: ::W'
34 Star Lore of All Ages
conjunction with Aquarius at the time of the winter
solstice, have described the fire of the solstitial sun as
"hiding in, being born in, and rising out of the celestial
waters of the constellation Aquarius."
Some suppose Aquarius represents Deucalion, who was
placed among the stars after the celebrated deluge of
Thessaly in 1500 B.C., and the creation legend connected
with this constellation identifies it with the Flood. It may-
be that Noah, desiring to perpetuate the record of the
Deluge, found in the scroll of night a parchment that never
fades, and in the stars characters that time cannot efface.
Aquarius has also been identified with Cecrops, the
Egyptian who journeyed to Greece and founded Athens.
Proctor in his Myths and Marvels of Astronomy tells
us that Aquarius astrologically speaking is in the house of
Sattim. Its natives, those bom between Jan. 20th and
Feb. 19th, are robust, steady, strong, and healthy, and of
middle stature, delicate complexion, clear but not pale,
sandy hair, hazel eyes, and generally of honest disposition.
It governs the legs and ankles, and reigns over Arabia,
Petraea, Tartary, Russia, Denmark, Lower Sweden,
Westphalia, Hamburg, and Bremen. It is mascuHne and
fortunate, and an aqueous blue colour is attributed to
it.
The Anglo-Saxons called Aquarius "se Waeter-Gyt,"
the "Water Pourer," and it was also known by the queer
title "Skinker," which signifies a tapster or pourer out of
liquor.
The astronomical symbol of the sign XXC, representing
undulating lines of waves, is said to have been the hiero-
glyph for water. The faint stars that seem to trail south-
ward from the water- jar are many of them in pairs and
triples, thus bearing out a stellar resemblance to a flowing
stream.
In this region of the sky the 25th Hindu lunar station
was situated. The Hindu name for it signified "having a
hundred physicians," and it included a hundred stars, the
Aquarius, the Water Bearer 35
brightest being X Aquarii. The regent of the asterism
was Varuna, the god of the waters.
The Arab lunar station or manzil known as "the feli-
city of tents " was also located in this region of the heavens,
and the early Christians saw in this constellation the figure
of St. Jude.
Aquarius, in spite of the importance attached to it by
the ancients, is an inconspicuous constellation. It is
characterised by a "Y "-shaped figure representing the
water-jar, composed of the stars Y, ^, r), x Aquarii. This
figure was called Sittda or Uma by the Latins. A rough
map of South America and a rude dipper are also to be
traced out in the stars of this constellation.
Alpha Aquarii is but one degree south of the celestial
equator. It was called "Sadalmelik" by the Arabs, which
means "the fortunate star of the king." This star marks
the Chinese lunar station or Sieu, which they knew as
"God."
The star Beta Aquarii was called by the Arabs "Sadal
Sud," "the luckiest of the lucky," a title supposed to refer
to the good fortune attending the passing of winter. This
star and ^ Aquarii constituted the Persian lunar station
known as "Bunda." On the Euphrates Beta Aquarii
was known as the "star of mighty destiny."
The star Delta Aquarii marks the radiant point of the
meteors known as the Delta Aquarids which appear from
the 27th to the 29th of Jul}'', and in this vicinity Mayer,
in 1756, noted as a fixed star the object that was later
identified by Sir William Herschel as the planet Uranus.
5 Aquarii is a double, the two suns revolving in 1624
years. They present a fine sight in a small telescope.
Piscis Australis
The Southern Fish
37
PISCIS AUSTRALIS
THE SOUTHERN FISH
Aquarius is so closely identified with the constellation
Piscis Australis, or the "Southern Fish," situated directly-
south of it, that a description of this asterism is worthy of
notice in this place.
Piscis Australis, says Burritt, is supposed to have taken
its name from the transformation of Venus into the shape
of a fish, when she fled terrified at the horrible advances
of the monster Typhon. It has been thought that the
Southern Fish was the sky symbol of the god Dagon of the
Syrians, the Phagre and Oxyrinque adored in Egypt, and
it has even been associated with the still greater Cannes.
It was especially mentioned by Avienus as the "Greater
Fish," and Longfellow in the notes to his translation of the
Divine Comedy, called it the "Golden Fish."
The Mosaicists held the asterism to represent the Barrel
of Meal belonging to Sareptha's widow, but Schickard
pronounces it to be the Fish taken by St. Peter with a
piece of money in its mouth.
Aratos describes the figure as "on his back the Fish," but
it generally appears in an upright position with mouth
agape, drinking in the great stream which flows down the
sky from the water- jar of Aquarius.
In the early legends the Southern Fish was the parent
of the Northern and Western Fishes that make up the
zodiacal constellation Pisces.
This constellation as a whole is inconspicuous in this
hemisphere owing to its low position. Its lucida however,
the brilliant first magnitude star Fomalhaut, rises well
39
40 Star Lore of All Ages
above the horizon and adorns the southern skies in the
early evening during the autumn months. Fomalhaut is
made the more conspicuous because it is the brightest star
in this region of the sky. It is the farthest south of all
the first magnitude stars we see, and ranks thirteenth
among the brilliant stars in our hemisphere.
Mrs. Martin' thus refers to this great sun: "On early
acquaintance the loneliness of the star, added to the
sombre signs of approaching autumn, sometimes gives
one a touch of melancholy, but its aspect when more
familiar soon comes to suggest only sweetness and serenity,
and a lover of Fomalhaut feels that a sustaining light has
gone when, during the last of December, this beautiful
star sinks gently down in the south-west and disappears
from the evening sky not to return for more than seven
months."
Fomalhaut is always associated in the mind of the star
lover with Capella, the briUiant in the constellation Auriga,
which rises far from it over the north-eastern horizon. As
these two stars rise almost simultaneously, one naturally
turns from a glimpse of one to the bright beams of the other.
The name Fomalhaut, pronounced Fo'-mal-o, is from
the Arabic, meaning "the Fish's Mouth." Aratos men-
tions it as "One large and bright by both the Pourer's feet."
Among the early Arabs, Fomalhaut was known as "the
First Frog."
Flammarion tells us that Fomalhaut was known as
"Hastorang" in Persia 3000 B.C., when near the winter
solstice. It was also called "the magnificent Royal Star,"
and was one of the four Royal stars of astrology, ruling over
the four cardinal points of the heavens, the other stars be-
ing Regulus, Antares, and Aldebaran. These four stars
were also regarded as the four guardians of Heaven, senti-
nels watching over the other stars.
About 500 B.C. Fomalhaut was the object of sunrise
« TTte Friendly Stars, by Martha Evans Martin.
Piscis Australis, the Southern Fish 41
worship in the temple of Demeter at Eleusis. With astro-
logers it portended eminence, fortune, and power. Its
position in the heavens has been determined with the
greatest possible accuracy to enable navigators to find their
longitude at sea, and it appears in the Ephemerides of all
modern sea-going nations. It culminates at 9 p.m., on
the 25th of October.
Fomalhaut is reddish in colour, and distant from the earth
about twenty-one light years. So far as is known it has no
companion. By one authority this star was thought to
be the Central Sun of the Universe, and according to Allen
no other star seems to have had so varied an orthography.
Aquila
The Eagle
43
o
Vu'pecul*
and
OAJbireo
In
CygnoB
O^. Sagltta
\1
DclphlDona
\ \ Job's CoflSa
A N T I N O ii S
AQUILA
AQUILA
THE EAGLE
Aquila the next
Divides the ether with her ardent wing
Beneath the Swan, not far from Pegasus,
Poetic Eagle.
The history of the constellation Aquila, the Eagle, is
especially interesting both because in this case we can trace
it back very clearly to the earliest times, and the original
Euphratean name has been preserved.
The Sumerian- Akkadian Eagle was "Alula" (the great
spirit) , the symbol of the noontide sun, and in all probability
the origin of the present constellation. On a Euphratean
uranographic stone of about 1200 B.C., there is a bird
figured, known as the Eagle, which is supposed to represent
the constellation of Aquila.
The Latins knew this constellation as Aquila, and their
poets called it "Jovis Ales" and "Jovis Nutrix," the
"Bird" and the "Nurse of Jove." Ovid called it "Me-
rops," King of the island of Cos, in the Archipelago, turned
into the Eagle of the sky, and placed among the stars
by Juno. Others thought it some ^Ethiopian king like
Cepheus.
Aquila is generally joined with Antinous, an asterism
invented by Tycho Brahe. Antinous was a youth of
Bithynia in Asia Minor, who came to an untimely death by
drowning in the river Nile. So greatly was his death
lamented by the Emperor Adrian, that he erected a temple
to his memory, and built in honour of him a splendid city
on the banks of the Nile.
45
46 Star Lore of All Ages
In Greece, the eagle was the bird of Zeus, and is re-
presented as bearing aloft in his talons a beautiful boy.
This youth is sometimes called Ganymede, whom Jupiter,
as the story runs, desiring for his cup-bearer, sent the eagle
to seize and carry up to heaven.
One of Ovid's Metamorphoses treats of Ganymede, the
youthful cup-bearer, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning thus
translates it in part:
But sovran Jove's rapacious bird, the regal
High percher on the Hghtning, the great eagle,
Drove down with rushing wings; and thinking how.
By Cupid's help, he bore from Ida's brow
A cup-boy for his master, he incUned
To yield, in just return, an influence kind;
The god being honoured in his lady's woe.
Aquarius as we have seen was also supposed to represent
Ganymede, and there seems to have been a connection be-
tween the constellations Aquarius and Aquila.
Another story claims that Jupiter himself asstmied the
form of an eagle and seized and carried off Ganymede, and
Aquila was known as the bird of Jove and bearer of his
thunder.
Horace thus alludes to this famous bird:
Jove for the prince of birds decreed,
And carrier of his thunder, too.
The bird whom golden Ganymede
Too well for trusty agent knew.
Gladstone's translation.
Some have imagined that Aquila was the eagle which
brought nectar to Jupiter, while he lay concealed in the
cave at Crete to avoid the fury of his father Saturn, and
this is in accordance with the legend of the Rig- Veda that
Aquila bore the Soma (the invigorating juice) to India,
"rushing impetuously to the vase or pitcher" (the con-
stellation Aquarius). This legend serves to corroborate
Photo by Anderson
Ganymede Seized by the Eagle
Painting by Rubens. Gallery of the Prado, Madrid
Aquila, the Eagle 47
the view that the Water Bearer and the Eagle were closely
associated.
Some of the ancient poets say that this is the eagle
which furnished Jupiter with weapons in his war with
the giants. In accordance with this version early re-
presentations added an arrow held in the Eagle's talons.
ManiHus wrote:
The tow'ring Eagle next doth boldly soar,
As if the thunder in his claws he bore;
He 's worthy Jove since he, a bird, supplies
The heaven with sacred bolts, and arms the skies.
On Burritt's map, Antinous is represented as grasping
a bow and arrows as he is borne aloft in the talons of the
Eagle. In this connection there may be a significance in
the position of the asterism Sagitta, the Arrow, just north
of Aquila.
Among the Australians Aquila is called "Totyarguil,"
and represents a man who, when bathing, was killed by a
fabulous animal, a kind of kelpie, as in Greece Orion was
killed by a scorpion and translated to the stars.
The Hebrews know this constellation as "Neshr," an
eagle, falcon, or vulture. The Arabians called it "Al-
"Okab," probably their black eagle. Grotius and Bayer
both called the constellation " Altair," the name now borne
by its brightest star.
The Turks called Aquila the "Hunting Eagle," and
through all the ages it has been known as a bird of prey, the
"Eagle of the Winds," the "Soaring Eagle," as contrasted
with Vega near by, the "Swooping or Falling Eagle."
Here over the face of the waters as it were, just above
the region of the sky known to the ancients as "the Sea,"
we find three birds in flight, two eagles and a swan, our
Lyra, being anciently known as "the Falling Eagle." There
is a significance in this arrangement that has never been
satisfactorily explained. Dupuis advanced the idea that
48 Star Lore of All Ages
the famous three Stymphalian Birds of mythology were
represented by the constellations Aquila, Cygnus, and
Lyra, grouped near Hercules, whose fifth labour it was to
slay them.
On the coins of many ancient countries the eagle ap-
pears. On the coinage of Sinope it is shown perched on the
dolphin. In connection with the story of Ganymede, it
appears on the coinage of Chalcis and Dardanos. One
coin bearing the prominent stars, says Allen, was struck
in Rome in 94 B.C., by Manius Nepos, and a coin of Agri-
gentum bears Aquila, with Cancer on the reverse, — the
one setting as the other rises.
The Chinese have here the Draught Oxen mentioned in
the book of Odes, compiled about 500 B.C., and strangely
enough Alpha Aquilae, or Altair, is known among the Jap-
anese as the boy with the ox. '
This constellation and Lyra are associated with the
curious Chinese legend of the Spinning Damsel and the
Magpie Bridge, a legend 'current in Korea also. It is as
follows: A cowherd fell in love with the spinning damsel.
Her father in anger banished them both to the sky, where
the cowherd became a, ^, and y Aqmlae, and the spinning
damsel the constellation Lyra. The father decreed that
they should meet once a year, if they could contrive to
cross the river (the Milky Way). This they were en-
abled to do by their friends the magpies, who still once a
year, the seventh night of the seventh moon, congregate
at the crossing point, and form a bridge for them to pass
over. In Korea if a magpie is seen about its usual haunts
at this time the children stone it for shirking its duty.
According to Lafcadio Heam, this legend is the basis of
the Japanese festival called "Tanabata." The sky lovers
here are known as "the Herdsman and the Weaver," and
when the meeting occurs it is said that the lover stars burn
with five different colours. If rain falls at the time set
' The early Christians likened this figure to St. Katharine and the
Standard of Rome.
Photo by Holly er
Ganymede
Painting by George Frederick Watts
Aquila, the Eagle 49
for the crossing, the meeting fails to occur. For this reason
rain on the Tanabata night is called the rain of tears.
Dr. Seiss regards Aqtiila as symbolical of the Woimded
Prince or Christ suffering for mankind.
Aquila contains a star of the first magnitude called
"Altair," a Aquilae, to which Mrs. Martin in her delight-
ful book, The Friendly Stars, thus charmingly refers:
"Then there comes a soft June evening with its lovely
twilight that begins with the last song of the woodthrush
and ends with the first strenuous admonitions of the whip-
poorwill, and almost as if it were an impulse of natiu-e one
walks to the eastern end of the porch and looks for Altair.
It is sure to be there, smiling at one just over the tree-tops
with a bright companion on either side, the three gently
advancing in a straight line as if they were walking the
Milky Way hand in hand and three abreast."
Allen tells us that the name of this beautiful star is
from a part of the Arabic name for the constellation, and
means the flying vulture.
Ovid thus alludes to the rising of Altair:
Now view the skies
And you '11 behold Jove's hook'd-bill bird arise.
This star was ill omened in astrology, and supposed to
portend danger from reptiles. It is an important star
for the mariner, however, as the moon's distance is taken
from it for computing longitude at sea.
According to Dr. Elkin, Altair is fifteen light years dis-
tant from the earth. It is said to be approaching the earth
at the rate of twenty-seven miles per second, and culmin-
ates at 9 P.M. on the ist of September.
The radiant point of the meteors known as the Aquilids,
visible from June 7th to August 12th, is located about five
degrees east of Altair. Strangely enough in the year
389 A.D., a famous temporary star, or comet, appeared
in this vicinity. Cuspinianus stated that it equalled
50 Star Lore of All Ages
Venus in brilliancy. It vanished after three weeks'
visibility.
Altair with its two companions Beta and Gamma Aqtdlae
constitute the so-called "Family of Aquila." The line
joining these stars is five degrees in length. In China
these stars were known as "Ho Koo," meaning "a river
drum," and the Persians-called them the "Star Striking
Falcon." They formed the 23d Hindu lunar station known
as "the Ear." The regent of the asterism is Vishnu, and
these three stars represent the three steps with which
Vishnu is said in the early Hindu mythology to have strode
through heaven. A trident is often given as the figure of
this group.
Eta Aquilas is a remarkable variable star. Its greatest
brightness continues but forty hours. It then gradually
diminishes for sixty-six hours, when its lustre remains
stationary for thirty hours. It then waxes brighter and
brighter until it appears again as a star of the third magni-
tude. From these phenomena, says Burritt, it is inferred
that it not only has spots on its surface like our sun,
but that it also turns on its axis. The spectrum of this
star is similar to that of our sun. Lockyer thinks it is a
spectroscopic binary, that is a star with a companion too
close to be revealed by the most powerful telescope.
Aries
The Ram
s«
.Algol
^ In
Pecseus
I
Triangulum
\
The
Northern
\Fish
HamalO — -
2 .c 3
Musca - The Fly
A*
ARIES ^
Steratan
Mesarthim
AlBisciia
Oetu3
ARIES
ARIES
THE RAM
First from the east, the Ram conducts the year;
Whom Ptolemy with twice nine stars adorns,
Of which two only claim the second rank,
The rest, when Cynthia fills the sign, are lost.
Aries has been called the "Prince of the Zodiac," the
"Prince of the Celestial Signs," and the "Leader of the
Host of the Zodiac." It has also been associated with
the ram into which Zeus changed himself to escape the
piirsuit of the giants. He fled to Egypt, and there the
constellation was called "Jupiter Ammon."
In Chaldea, where the constellation is supposed to have
originated, the ram simply represents the favourite animal
of the shepherds. Considering the fact that Aries is in an
inconspicuous part of the heavens, and comprises only
three stars of any importance, it is surprising the wealth
of lore and legend that surrounds it, and the attention paid
to it by the ancients, unless we attribute to it some ex-
traneous claim for notoriety, such as the position of these
stars as regards the sun at a certain period of the year.
There is little doubt that this is the real cause of the im-
portance of this constellation.
" If," says Plunket, "we find Aries equally honoured by
several nations in very early times, either these nations,
independent of each other, happened to observe and mark
out the sun's annual course through the heavens at exactly
the same date, and therefore chose the same date, or we
must suppose that they derived their calendar and know-
ledge of the zodiac from observations originally made by
some one civilised race." y
53
54 Star Lore of All Ages
It is easy to see, as Brown avers, that the comparison
of the sun to a ram or bull is a line of thought which nat-
urally and spontaneously arises in the mind of archaic
man.
In the Euphratean Valley, the probable birthplace of the
constellations, the sun was styled a "Lubat," meaning old
sheep, and ultimately the planets were called "old sheep
stars." Hence the symbolic view of the sun as an old
sheep or ram is necessarily of a remote antiquity.
In Aries we have very clear proof that many of the con-
stellations must be regarded as mere symbols, and in no-
wise to be thought of as owing their names to a fancied
resemblance to some creature or object, for the obtuse
angle formed by the three principal stars in Aries could
only resemble at best the hind leg of a sheep or ram, and
so we are boimd to the conviction that the ram is simply
a symbol.
One theory holds that the solar ram, the stm who opened
the day, was in time duplicated by the stellar ram, who
in 2540 B.C. opened the year, and "led the starry flock
through it as their bell-wether."
Unfortunately for this theory, as Maunder points out, we
know that the constellations were mapped out at a far
earlier epoch, when the equinox fell not in Aries, but in
the middle of the constellation Taurus.
In mythology Aries has always represented the fabled
ram with fleece of gold. Manilius thus describes it:
First Aries, glorious in his golden wool.
Looks back and wonders at the mighty BuU.
The old fable is as follows: Phrixus and Helle were
children of Athamas, the legendary King of Thessaly.
Their step-mother treated them with such cruelty that
Mercury took pity on them, and to enable them to escape
their mother's wrath sent a ram to bear them away.
Mounted on the ram's back the children sped over land
Aries, the Ram 55
and sea, but unfortunately Helle neglected to secure her
hold, and fell from her seat while the ram was flying across
the strait which divides Europe from Asia, In memory
of this catastrophe this strait was afterwards known as the
Hellespont. ManiHus thus refers to this episode:
First golden Aries shines, who whilst he swam
Lost part of 's freight and gave to sea a name.
Longfellow also alludes to Helle's fall:
The Ram that bore unsafely the burden of Helle.
Phrixus landed safely at Colchis, at the eastern end of
the Black Sea. Out of gratitude for his safe deliverance,
he sacrificed the ram and gave the golden fleece to the king
of the country, who hung it in the sacred grove of Ares,
under guard of a sleepless dragon.
The golden fleece has always been associated in Greek
mythology with the voyage of the ship Ar go, and the cele-
brated Argonautic expedition which set forth in search
of it.
The theory has been advanced that the stellar symbols
were intended simply as a record of this famous expedi-
tion. Even so good an astronomer as Sir Isaac Newton
held this view, but Maunder on the contrary claims that
there was nothing in the story of the neighbouring con-
stellations to support the legend of the golden fleece.
Curiously enough Aries is the leading sign in all the sys-
tems of astrology which have come down to us through
the Greeks, and it figures as the leading sign in most of
the explanations of the constellation figures which are on
record. Maunder considers that this fact proves that
these astrological systems, and these theories concerning
the constellation figures, not only took their rise at a later
epoch, but that when they did so, the real origin and mean-
ing of the designs had been wholly lost.
56 Star Lore of All Ages
One peculiar fact respecting Aries for which there is no
apparent explanation, is that the ram is always repre-
sented with reverted head. On a coin type of Cyzicus,
about 500-450 B.C., the ram is thus depicted, Allen notes
as an exception to this almost universal figure, the ram
erect in the Alhumasar of 1489.
Berosus, a Babylonian priest in the time of Alexander
the Great, said that the ancients — those ancient to him —
believed that the world was created when the sun was in
Aries.
Pliny said that Cleostratos of Tenedos first formed
Aries, but there is no doubt that the constellation origin-
ated many centuries before this.
Plunket informs us that in the Egyptian calendars no
reference is made to Aries, but in Egyptian mythology
the importance of the ram is revealed. Amen or Amon, the
great god of the Theban triad, is sometimes represented
as ram-headed. The great temple to him in conjunction
with the sun, i.e., to Amen-Ra, is approached through an
avenue of gigantic ram-headed sphinxes. At the season
of all the year when Aries specially dominated the eclip-
tic, the statue of the god Amen was carried in procession
to the Nekropolis, from which place the constellation Aries
was fully visible. "The preparations for this great festi-
val began before the full moon next to the spring equinox,
and on the fourteenth day of that moon all Egypt was in
joy over the dominion of the Ram. The people crowned
the Ram with flowers, carried him with extraordinary
pomp in grand procession, and rejoiced in him to the ut-
most." The ancient Persians, who called Aries "Bara,"
had a similar festival.
Between 1400 and iioo B.C., when Rameses II. dedicated
the temple of Aboo Simbel, the sun when it penetrated into
the shrine of the temple was in conjunction with the first
stars of the constellation Aries, and this fact doubtless led
the King to honour Aries in connection with the god Amen.
The Egyptians called Aries "the Lord of the Head."
s ^
-a 5
I a
Aries, the Ram 57
Not only the Egyptians, but all the great civilised na-
tions of the East, had traditions of a year beginning when
the sun and moon entered the constellation Aries.
Jensen is of the opinion that Aries may have been jfirst
adopted into the zodiac by the Babylonians when its stars
began to mark the vernal eqmnox. Plunket on the con-
trary, thinks that the choice of the constellation as Prince
and Leader of the signs was made, not when its stars
marked the spring equinox, but when they indicated the
winter solstice. According to this view Aries, Cancer,
Libra, and Capricomus marked the four seasons and the
cardinal points in 6000 B.C.
In the Rig-Veda, the first lunar station in the Indian
series is named "Aswini." The two chief stars in the
station are the twin stars as they may be called, ^ and y
Arietis. Joyous hymns were addressed to the twin heroes,
the Aswins, which may properly be called New Year's
hymns, composed in honour of these stars, whose appear-
ance before sunrise heralded the approach of the great
festival day of the Hindu New Year. Next to Agni and
Soma, the twin deities named the Aswins are the most pro-
minent in the Rig- Veda. They are celebrated in more
than fifty entire h3rmns, while their name occurs more than
four hundred times. These twin heroes of Hindu myth-
ology correspond to the famous twins of Grecian mythology.
Castor and Pollux.
The Arabs, whose first manzil or lunar station was
formed by these same two stars, knew them as "the two
tokens," that is to say of the opening year. They called
the constellation Aries "Al-Hamal," the Sheep, while the
early Hindus called it "Aja," and "Mesha."
The Hebrews called the constellation "Teli," and as-
signed it in their zodiac to either Simeon or Gad. Dr.
Seiss, following Caesius, regarded Aries as symbolising the
Lamb of the World.
Aries, the April sign according to Ha^ar, was known in
Peru as "the Market Moon" or "Kneeling Terrace.**
58 Star Lore of All Ages
At this season the early crops were harvested and borne
home on the backs of Hamas. The festival was called
"Ayri huay" or that of the axe, and referred to the
reaping of these crops. This conception of the con-
stellation is decidedly at variance with the Eastern idea
of it.
The Syrians called Aries "Amru" or "Emru," while the
Turkish name for the constellation was "Kuzi."
The Romans generally called the constellation "Aries,"
but Ovid named it "Phrixea Ovis" and "Comus." Other
Latin names for it are "Vemus Portitor," the Spring-
bringer, and "Arcanus."
As one of the zodiacal twelve of China, Aries was first
known as "the Dog," and later as "the White Sheep."
At the time when it was sought to reconstruct the constella-
tions on BibUcal lines, Aries was selected to represent
Abraham's ram caught in the thicket, or St. Peter.
The Anglo-Normans of the 12th century called Aries
"Multuns," and the poet Dante refers to it as "Montone."
In Italy, France, and Germany, Aries is called respec-
tively, "Ariete," "Belier," and "Widder." The symbol
of the constellation Y probably represents the head and
horns of the animal. In this region of the sky a brilliant
temporary star appeared in the year 1012 a.d.
Astrologically considered Aries is the house and joy of
Mars, and signifies a dry constitution, long face and neck,
thick shoulders, swarthy complexion, and a hasty passion-
ate temper. It governs the head and face, and all dis-
eases relating thereto. It reigns over France, England,
Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Lesser Poland, Syria,
Naples, Capua, Verona, etc. It is a masculine sign, and is
regarded as fortunate.
According to Eleanor Kirk, who is a great authority
on the subject, people bom under Aries, that is between
Mar. 20th and Apr. 19th are usually very executive,
earnest, and determined. They are leaders, and dominate
those about them. They are noble, generous, progressive,
Aries, the Ram 59
and have occult power. They are good scholars, bright,
genial, and witty.
The natal gem of Aries is the bloodstone, the symbol of
good luck; the natal flower, the violet; the metal, iron.
Alpha Arietis was called "Hamal" or "Hamel" by the
Arabs, meaning a sheep, and the name " Al-Nath" has also
been found for it on some of the ancient Arabic globes.
"Arietis" is another name for this star.
Among the Greeks in early times, Hamal held the im-
portant office of sunrise herald, at the vernal equinox.
In Ptolemy's list it is described as "The one above the
head" (of the Ram), and astrologers regarded it as dan-
gerous and evil, denoting bodily hurts.
Brown asserts that the stellar Ram was in the first place
only the star Hamal, the constellation being formed around
it afterwards. Chaucer refers to the star as "Alnath,"
that is to say the "horn push," a name more commonly
associated with the star in the tip of the northern horn of
the Bull, a star common to the constellations Taurus and
Auriga.
Other Euphratean names for this star have been "Lu-
lim" or "Lu-nit," the ram's eye, and "Simal," the Horn
Star. It was also called "Anuv" and "Ku," meaning the
Prince or the Leading One, the ram that led the heavenly
flock.
Of the Grecian temples, at least eight, at various places^
and of dates ranging from 1580 to 360 B.C. were oriented
to this star, and it is the only star to which Milton makes
individual allusion.
Hamal is much used in navigation in connection with
lunar observations, and culminates at 9 p.m. on the nth
of December. It is approaching our system at the rate of
nine miles per second. According to Miss Gierke, ^ Hamal
is distant from the earth about forty light years.
The star Beta Arietis was known to the Arabs as "Shara-
« The System of the Stars, by Agnes M. Gierke.
«
6o Star Lore of All Ages
tan," meaning "a sign," this star having marked the vernal
equinox in the days of Hipparchus.
Gamma Arietis has been called the "First star in Aries"
as at one time it was nearest to the equinoctial point.
It is a beautiful double star, easily visible in a small tele-
scope, and was discovered to be double by Dr. Hooke in
1664. This star was known to the Arabs as " Mesarthim,"
meaning the "two attendants," a reference to Beta and
Gamma Arietis, these two stars being considered as at-
tendants on Hamal. The Persians called these stars
"The Protecting Pair."
The faint stars east of Hamal on the back of the Ram
form a little group known as "Musca Borealis," the
Northern Fly. The figure appears in Burritt's Atlas.
According to Allen the inventor of this asterism is unknown.
Musca has been also styled "the Wasp" and "the Bee."
It comes to the meridian on the 17th of December at
9 P.M.
Auriga
The Charioteer
6i
fv
I
AURIGA
AURIGA
THE CHARIOTEER
Close by the kneeling Bull behold
The Charioteer who gained by skill of old
His name and heaven as first his steeds he drove,
With flying wheels, seen and installed by Jove.
Manilius.
The origin of this ancient constellation is lost. It has
been represented for ages as a mighty man seated on the
Milky Way, and like a shepherd carrying a goat on his
shoulder, and a pair of little kids in his hand. The first
magnitude star Capella shines in the heart of the imaginary
goat.
Allen says: "The results of modern research give us
reason to think that this constellation originated on the
Euphrates, in much the same form as we have it to-day.
It certainly was a well established sky figure there mil-
lenniums ago. A sculpture from Nimroud is an almost
exact representation of Atiriga, with the goat carried on
the left arm."
On the Assyrian tablets Auriga was the "Chariot," and
in accordance with this in Grseco-Babylonian times the
constellation "Rukubi," the Chariot, lay here nearly
coincident with our Charioteer.
Seen rising in the north-east, it needs but little imagina-
tion to trace in the stars of Auriga a resemblance to an
ancient Roman chariot, so that the title "Chariot" seems
more appropriate than "Charioteer."
Ideler thinks that the original figure was made up of
the five stars a, ^, e, 1^, yj. The driver (represented by the
63'
64 Star Lore of All Ages
star Capella) is imagined as standing on an antique sloping
chariot, marked by ^, The other stars represent the reins.
The illustration, although contrary to Ideler's conception,
seems a much easier figure to trace. Here as in Ideler's
figure Capella represents the driver's head. (See p. 69.)
Plunket suggests 3000 B.C. as the date of the invention
of the constellation Auriga, for then Capella, the brightest
star in this region of the sky, was on the meridian in con-
junction with the sun at noon of the spring equinox, and
in opposition at midnight of the autumnal equinox.
Capella has by several writers been identified with the
star "Icu of Babylon," mentioned in many of the Baby-
lonian texts, and the star of Marduk. If this is correct we
should credit the Babylonian astronomers with the delinea-
tion of the figure of Auriga.
Auriga has also been identified with Erichthonius, the
son of Vulcan and Minerva, who being deformed and un-
able to walk invented the chariot, an achievement that
secured him a place in the sky.
Bold Erichthonius was the first who join'd
Four horses for the rapid race designed,
And o'er the dusty wheels presiding sate.
Dryden.
Swinburne sings of this famous inventor in the follow-
ing lines:
Thou hast loosened the necks of thine horses, and goaded their flanks
with affright,
To the race of a course that we know not on ways that are hid from our
sight;
As a wind through the darkness the wheels of their chariot are whirled,
And the light of its passage is night on the face of the world.
Manilius thus refers to the Charioteer :
Near the bent Bull a seat the Driver claims,
Whose skill conferr'd his honour and his names.
Auriga, the Charioteer 65
His art great Jove admired, when first he drove
His rattling Car, and fix't the Youth above.
According to Lempri^re, Erichthonius became the con-
stellation Bootes instead of Auriga.
Brown identifies Erichthonius with Poseidon, the lord
of the abyss below the surface of the earth, the stormy
earth-shaking divinity, and thus accounts for the stormy
influence that the Greeks attributed to Capella, the
Goat-star.
The Greek name for Auriga was 'Evtox©?, "the holder
of the reins," a name preserved for us in the Arab name for
Beta Auriga5, " Menkalinan," meaning "the shoulder of the
rein-holder."
Blake' thinks that the proximity of the chariot (Ursa
Major) accounts for the name of the Charioteer applied
to the constellation.
On a French chart of 1650 Auriga figures as Adam with
his knees on the Milky Way, and the she-goat climbing
over his neck.
Dr. Seiss claims that Auriga represented to the Greeks
the Good Shepherd, a symbol foretelling the coming of
Christ.
Caesius likened it to Jacob deceiving his father with the
flesh of his kids.
Auriga has also been identified with Myrtilus, the
charioteer of CEnomaus, with Cillas, Pelethronius, Hip-
polytus, Bellerophon, and St. Jerome, while Jamieson is of
the opinion that Auriga is a mere type or scientific symbol
of the beautiful fable of Phaeton, because he was the at-
tendant of Phoebus at the remote period when Taurus
opened the year.
Auriga in its glorious lucida Capella contains a star fam-
ous in the history of all ages. To the early Arabs Capella
was known as the " Driver," because it appears in the even-
ing twilight earlier than the other stars, and so apparently
^Astronomical Myths by J. F. Blake.
66 Star Lore of All Ages
watches over them, or still more practically as the " Singer"
who rides before the procession cheering on the camels,
which last were represented by the Pleiades. They also
called it "the Guardian of the Pleiades."
Capella is a singularly beautiful object, and lies nearer
the Pole than any other of the first magnitude stars. It
rises almost exactly in the north-east, and July is the only
month in the year when it is not visible in these latitudes
sometime before midnight.
Seen in the cool evenings of early fall, flashing its won-
derful prismatic rays from the low eastern sky, it seems
like a herald of old announcing the coming of a mighty
host, the brilliant stellar pageant that graces our clear
winter nights, and renders them gorgeous with light and
Ufe.
Mrs. Martin thus refers to the rising of this famous
star, a star which Tennyson designates as "a glorious
crown": "When you watch the birds congregating in
noisy flocks in the morning for the fall migration, and in the
afternoon gather the first fringed gentians, look for Capella
in the north-eastern sky in the evening . . . the fair, golden,
bright Capella, that decks the sky in its season. We fol-
low it in its course visible to us across the heavens, we joy
in its beauty, and feel the kindly influence that astrologers
have always ascribed to it."
Eudosia thus alludes to the brilliance of Capella:
And scarce a star with equal radiance beams
Upon the earth.
Capella means "the little she-goat," the goat which
suckled the infant Jupiter. The story runs that having
in his play broken off one of the goat's horns, Jupiter en-
dowed the horn with the power of being filled with what-
ever the possessor might wish, whence it was called "the
Cornucopia," or "horn of plenty." This title is also ap-
plied to the horn of Capricomus the Sea Goat.
Auriga, the Charioteer 67
In India, Capella was worshipped as the Heart of
Brahma. The ancient Peruvians called it "Colca," and
connected it with the affairs of shepherds. English poets
have alluded to it as "the Shepherds' Star." These al-
lusions have reference doubtless to the time of Capella's
culmination, which corresponded with the season when
the shepherds watched their flocks.
Probably the oldest allusion to Capella extant is that
which was found on an old tablet in Akkadian, which has
been translated as follows: "When on the first day of
the month Nisan the star of stars (or Dilgan) and the
moon are parallel, that year is normal. When on the
third day of the month Nisan the star of stars and
the moon are parallel, that year is full."
"The star of stars" of the inscription, says Maunder,
is no doubt Capella, and the year thus determined
by the setting together of the moon and Capella would
begin on the average with the spring equinox about
2000 B.C. The date of the Akkadians is about 4000
years ago.
Allen tells us that Capella's place on the Denderah
zodiac is occupied by a mummied cat in the outstretched
hand of a male figure crowned with feathers. While al-
ways an important star in the temple worship of the
great Egyptian god Ptah, the Opener, it is supposed to
have borne the name of that divinity, and probably was
observed at its setting 1700 B.C. from his temple, the noted
edifice at Kamak near Thebes. Another recently dis-
covered sanctuary of Ptah, at Memphis, was also oriented
to Capella. Lockyer thinks at least five temples were
oriented to its setting.
A stormy character has been attributed to Capella,
and hence it has sometimes been called "the rainy Goat-
starre." Aratos alludes thus to its stormy influences:
Capella's course admiring landsmen trace,
But sailors hate her inauspicious face.
68 Star Lore of All Ages
Similarly the poet Callimachus who lived about 240 B.C.
wrote:
Tempt not the winds forewarned of dangers nigh,
When the kids glitter in the western sky.
The Kids are represented by the three fourth magnitude
stars, £,Z„ and tq Aiirigas, which form a small isosceles tri-
angle close to Capella and serve to identify that star. They
were sometimes called "the stormy Hasdi," and were so
much dreaded as presaging the stormy season on the Medi-
terranean, that their rising early in October evenings was
the signal for the closing of navigation.
All classical authors who mentioned the stars, says
Allen, alluded to the direful influence of Capella, and a
festival, the "Natalis Navigationis, " was held when the
days of that influence were past.
Astrologically Capella portended civic and military
honours, and wealth.
Some astronomical facts relative to Capella may be of
interest. Capella in its spectrum almost exactly resembles
the sun. It is a spectroscopic binary, its duplicity being
alone revealed by the spectroscope. Its period of revolu-
tion is 104 days, and its unseen companion has a spectrum
resembling that of Procyon, a star further advanced in the
order of development than Capella.
In brightness Capella ranks third of all the stars
we see in these latitudes, and fifth of all the stars in
the firmament. Its mass is eighteen times that of the
sun.
Dr. Elkins gives its parallax, that is its distance from
the earth, as approximately thirty-four light years. A light
year is the distance light travels in one year, at the terrific
speed of 186,000 miles a second.
Capella is receding from the earth at the rate of about
fifteen miles a second, and in about 3,000,000 years will ap-
pear as a second magnitude star.
The Temple of Khonsu, Karnak
From Piers's " Inscriptions of the Nile Monuments"
Auriga, the Charioteer 69
Ptolemy, El Fergani (loth century), and Riccioli have
all called Capella red.
If the earth were midway between Capella and the sun,
we should receive 250 times as much light from Capella as
from our little solar star. According to Newcomb, Capella
is 120 times as bright as the sun, and the sun at the dis-
tance of Capella would appear as a 5.5 magnitude star.
The star culminates at 9 p.m. on Jan. 19th.
"Beta Aurigag is supposed to be a very close binary.
The two practically equal stars that compose the pair
are estimated to be only seven and one half millions of
miles apart, and revolving in a period of about four days
with a relative velocity of fully 150 miles a second accord-
ing to Prof. Pickering. It is receding from the earth at
the rate of about seventeen miles a second."
Gamma Aurigas, called by the Arabs "Al-Nath," is
common to the constellations Taurus and Auriga, and
marks the tip of the Bull's right horn.
The remaining stars in the constellation call for no special
comment, but Auriga is rich in star clusters, M. 37 being
especially noteworthy. Smith calls this "a magnificent
object, the whole field being strewed, as it were, with spark-
ling gold dust; and the group is resolvable into about 500
stars. Even in small instruments this cluster is extremely
beautiful, one of the finest of its class."
# CAMILLA
Bootes
The Bear Driver
71
<y Corona
J Borealiso 3
Serpens H .^s"^ Gei^a"^ "^
V
Libra.
Ifekkar
Seglnus
CorCaroU —
in
Canes Venatict
^;^
K.
^.
BOOTES
BOOTES
THE BEAR DRIVER
And next Bootes comes whose ordered beams
Present a figure driving on his teams.
Manilius.
The original title of this constellation was in all prob-
ability "Arcturus," the present title of the lucida of the
constellation, a famous star of the first magnitude. The
title Bootes, pronounced Bo-o'-tez, appeared in the Odys-
sey, and according to Allen has been in use for at least
three thousand years.
The stars in this region of the sky seem to have attracted
the admiration of almost all the eminent writers of anti-
quity. Aratos pays this tribute to Bootes:
Behind and seeming to urge on the Bear
Arctophylax, on earth Bootes, named
Sheds o'er the arctic car his silver light.
And eight hundred years later Claudian wrote:
Bodtes with his wain the north unfolds.
Bootes is represented by the figure of a mighty man with
uplifted hand, holding in leash two hunting dogs. He
seems to be pursuing the Great Bear around the Pole, and
hence Bootes is often referred to as "the Bear Driver."
Carlyle in Sartor Resartus thus mentions the constella-
tion: " What thinks Bootes of them as he leads his Hunt-
ing Dogs over the zenith in their leash of sidereal fire?"
Bootes is also represented as a Herdsman and a Plough-
73
74 Star Lore of All Ages
man, guiding the Wain, as the constellation Ursa Major
is sometimes called. Cicero takes this view, and adds
that Bootes was sometimes called " Arctophylax " from
two Greek words signifying "bear keeper" or "bear
driver."
The name Bootes, according to some authorities, is de-
rived from the Greek ^ou?, meaning ox, and wOecv, to
drive. Others claim that the title was derived from
^oTQTTQi;, meaning clamorous, descriptive of the shouts of
the driver, or the call of encouragement to the hounds,
hence the constellation has been sometimes called "Voci-
ferator" and "Clamator."
The mythology of the constellation is interesting. Ac-
cording to some of the Greeks it represented Icarius the
father of Origone, others claim it represented Erichthonius,
the inventor of the chariot. It was also said to be Areas,
the son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto.
Plunket claims the date 6000 B.C. and latitude 45 degrees
north, for the time and place of the invention of this con-
stellation, as then and there Bootes might be seen at mid-
night of the summer solstice standing upright on the
northern horizon, his head reaching nearly to the Pole.
Never since that date has he held so commanding a posi-
tion in the sky, nor at any more southern latitude could
his whole figxire have been represented as standing on the
horizon.
Bootes has also been called "Atlas" from its nearness
to the Pole, and because it appeared to hold up the heavens.
In all probability Bootes has been deprived of an arm, the
stars formerly representing it now forming the constella-
tion of the Northern Crown. Proctor thinks that this
change was made at some time preceding that of Eudoxus,
who was bom about 300 B.C.
The risings and settings of Bootes which took place near
the equinoxes portended great tempests. Bootes sets in a
perpendicular position, and takes eight hours to make his
exit, hence allusions to his sluggish and tardy movements
Photo by Brogi
Atlas
National Museum, Naples
Bootes, the Bear Driver 75
are found in the works of the ancients. Manilius thus re-
fers to this peculiarity of the Herdsman:
Slow Bootes drives his ling 'ring teams.
And Aratos describes him as :
When tired of day
At even lingers more than half the night.
Bootes is an early riser so to speak, making up for his
late hours, as he rises horizontally, "all at once," as Aratos
wrote.
According to Allen the early Catholics knew Bootes as
St. Sylvester. Caesius said it might represent the prophet
Amos, the Herdsman or Shepherd, and Dr. Seiss thought
it represented the Great Shepherd and Harvester of Souls.
The shepherd idea as connected with Bootes is borne
out by its proximity to the Pole, which the Arabs regarded
as a sheepfold, and Bootes has accordingly been called
"Pastor" by some, meaning Shepherd. This title con-
forms to the title "Sibzianna" for the constellation, which
appears on the ancient Euphratean star list, and which
means "Shepherd of the Life of Heaven."
Burritt informs us that the ancient Greeks called this
constellation "Lycaon," a name derived from Xu/og which
signifies "a wolf." The Hebrews called Bootes "Caleb
Anubach," meaning "the Barking Dog," while the Latins
among other names called it "Canis."
This allusion to a barking dog and a wolf in connection
with Bootes seems to refer again to the Arabs' polar sheep-
fold. Their imaginary picture contained a flock of sheep, a
shepherd and his dog, and a wolf or hyena lurking near by
in search of prey.
"Seginus," "Nekkar," and "Alkalurops" are names that
have also been applied to this constellation, but now they
appear as individual star names.
76 Star Lore of All Ages
Bootes also figures as a spear or lance bearer, the shep-
herd's staff which he was represented as bearing having
been changed into a more formidable weapon.
In Burritt's Atlas Bootes appears with his back turned
to the bear which his hounds are closely following, and his
attitude is anything but one of pursuit.
Landseer and Lalande both held that the Bear Driver
was the national sign of ancient Egypt, the myth of the
dismemberment of Osiris originating in the successive
settings of its stars, and that there it was called "Osiris,"
"Bacchus," or "Sabazius," the ancient name for Bacchus
and Noah.
The star Alpha Bootis bears the name "Arcturus."
This glorious star has excited the admiration of all man-
kind, and from the earliest times we find it mentioned.
Without doubt it was one of the first stars to be named.
Arcturus is one of the few stars alluded to in the Bible,
where we find a reference to it in the Book of Job, hence it
is sometimes called "Job's star."
Arcturus probably owes its name to its proximity to
Ursa Major, as it means "the watcher of the Bear." The
name of this star according to Gore is derived from the
Greek words agxzoq and oiipdc, which signify a bear's tail,
so called because it lies nearly in the continuation of the
Great Bear's tail.
Virgil frequently mentions Arcturus, and Manilius in his
reference to Bootes thus speaks of its position in relation
to the figure of the Herdsman :
Below his girdle, near his knees, he bears
The bright Arcturus, fairest of the stars.
In early days Arcturus represented a spear in the hunter's
hand, and with the Arabs it was "the Lance Bearer."
Emerson, in his translation of the Persian poet Hafiz,
wrote:
Poises Arcturus aloft momii^ and evening his spear.
Bootes, the Bear Driver 77
Like many other prominent stars Arctunis shared its
name with the constellation. Miss Gierke is of the opinion
that Arctunis received its name long before the constella-
tion was thought of, forming the nucleus of a subsequently
formed group.
Allen states that this star was famous with the seamen of
early days even from the traditional period of the Arcadian
Evander, and regulated the annual festival by its move-
ments in relation to the sun.
Mrs. Martin thus paints a scene of springtime to which
Arctunis lends its lustre: "What more gracious day's
progress in beauty could there be than to travel with the
eyes from the cheerful hepaticas dotting the soft ground
among the trees to the round, white, silent blossoms of the
dogwood fringing the late April woods, and thence, when
the evening falls, to the bright yet gentle light of Arctu-
nis in the sky, announcing the end of the purple twilight."
The Chinese designated Arctunis "the palace of the
Emperors." They also called it "Ta Kio," meaning the
" Great Horn," four small stars near by being " Kang Che,"
the "Drought Lake."
The Eskimos called Arctunis "Sibwudli," and it is the
timepiece of the seal netters during the great night fish-
ing in December and January. The position of this bril-
liant star as it circles round the Pole enables them to
judge how the night is passing.
The Arab name for Arcturus was "Al-simak-al-Ramih,"
meaning "the simak armed with a lance," also trans-
lated "the leg of the Lance-Bearer," and "the lofty Lance-
Bearer." Gore states that according to the Persian
astronomer Al-Sufi, who wrote a description of the heavens
in the loth century, the word simak means "elevated,"
referring to the high altitude the star attains above the
horizon. Schjellenip however, thinks that the word re-
fers to the brilliancy of the star and not to its altitude.
The Arabs also knew Arcturus as "the Keeper of Heaven."
In India, Arcturus marked the 13th lunar station, known
78 Star Lore of All Ages
as "the Good Goer" or perhaps "sword," but figured as a
coral bead, gem, or pearl. It was also known in India as
"the outcast." As might be expected of so conspicuous
a star, we find many of the Egyptian temples oriented to it.
Al-Biruni mentioned Arcturus as "the Second Calf of
the Lion," the star Spica representing the First Calf.
Allen states that this star has been identified with the Chal-
deans' "Papsukal," the "Guardian Messenger," while ac-
cording to Smith and Sayce, Arcturus was "the Shepherd
of the Heavenly Flock," or "the Shepherd of the Life of
Heaven," undoubtedly the Sib-zianna of the inscriptions.
Strange to say the Eskimo title for the star, Sibwudli,
has the same first syllable as the title of the Euphratean
hieroglyphics.
Arcturus was long supposed by the ancients to be the
nearest star to the earth. Its influence was always dreaded,
as the writings of Aratos and Pliny testify, and its rising
and setting were supposed to portend great tempests.
Hippocrates, who lived about 460 B.C., made much, says
Allen of the influence of Arcturus on the human body,
in one instance claiming that a dry season after its rising
agrees best with those who are naturally phlegmatic, and
that diseases are especially apt to prove critical in these
days.
Astrologically those bom under Arcturus were destined
to have honour and riches conferred on them.
Arcturus is a remarkable star by reason of its rapid
motion through space, indeed it may rightly be called "a
runaway star." Since the days of Ptolemy it has moved
over a distance equal to fully twice the moon's apparent
diameter, and even to the naked eye it no longer fits the
alignment with other stars which Ptolemy described.
Its proper motion in miles per second is given by different
authorities as anywhere from one hundred to three hund-
red miles.
There is also great discrepancy in the estimate of the
brightness of Arcturus as compared with the sun. Prof.
Bootes, the Bear Driver 79
Russell claims that Arcturus exceeds our sun in brilliance
one hundred and fifty times, while some make Arcturus
equal in illuminating power to six thousand such suns as
ours.
According to Mrs. Martin it takes the light of Arctu-
rus more than one hundred years to reach us. Serviss puts
this estimate at forty or fifty years, and states that Arctu-
rus is relatively an aged sun surroimded with a blanket of
absorbing metallic vapours, which cut off a large part of
his radiant energy, and gives to him a ruddy, fiery hue,
especially when he is seen just rising from the horizon.
At this time the scintillating colours of Arcturus as viewed
in a telescope are beautiful to behold.
It has been proved that we do not receive from Arctu-
rus more heat than we should from a candle at a distance of
five or six miles.
Many who were fortunate enough to witness Donati's
great comet of 1858 will recall that at one time that comet's
head almost occulted Arcturus, and yet its splendour was
undiminished.
Prof. Nichols's account of this wonderful sight is worth
quoting in this connection:
" It was a spectacle the like of which no one might see
again though he should spend on earth fifty Uves. At the
beginning the comet was like a plume of fire, shaped like a
bird of paradise, but it soon brightened into a stupendous
scimitar, brandished in the sunset, and when it swept over
Arcturus the whole astronomical world was watching to see
what would happen to the star."
Arcturus comes to the meridian on June 8th at 9 p.m.
Whitman wrote the following beautiful poem to Arctu-
rus:
Star of resplendent front: thy glorious eye
Shines on me still from out yon clouded sky,
Shines on me through the horrors of a night
More drear than ever fell o'er day so bright.
8o Star Lore of All Ages
Shines till the envious Serpent slinks away
And pales and trembles at thy steadfast ray.
Hast thou not stooped from Heaven fair star, to be
So near me in this hour of agony ?
So near, so bright, so glorious that I seem
To lie entranced as in some wondrous dream,
All earthly joys forgot, all earthly fears
Purged in the light of thy resplendent sphere,
Kindling within my soul a pure desire
To blend with those its incandescent fire,
To lose my very life in thine, to be
Soul of my soul through all eternity.
The stars P, y. ^ ^^^ V- form a trapezium. This figure
was known to the Arabs as "the Female Wolves." They
also called the star s Bootis, "Izar" or "Mizar," mean-
ing girdle or waist cloth. This is a double star and its
exquisite beauty has earned for it the name "Pulcherima,"
a title bestowed on it by the elder Struve. The two stars
can be seen in a small telescope as the components are
3" apart.
Canes Venatici
The Hunting Dogs
8i
Hercules
\
N>
'^..
''erpens
1
Qsphja
\.
\ Virgo
\
\
If
4 Corona
V Borealis
/
/
/ Boo.tes ^
cL
^rcturoi
K.
Obiiw^
„°oo
Conui
3erenlce#,
O D»itt*<*l»i la I«9
CAN-ES
VEWATICI
«r Cor CaroU
tt\ • ^
\ t*Superba
\4
X\
i^
9
CANES VENATICI
CANES VENATICI
THE HUNTING DOGS
The asterism Canes Venatici, or the Hunting Dogs, is so
closely associated with Bootes that a description of it comes
properiy in this place.
This star group is a modern one, having been formed by
HeveHus in 1690. These stars are supposed to represent
two hunting dogs or hounds, which, held in leash by the
Bear Driver, pursue the Great Bear as it circles the
Pole. The northern dog is named "Asterion," the
southern "Chara." In the neck of the latter is situ-
ated the lucida of the asterism, a third magnitude star
which bears the name of "Cor Caroli," or "Charles's
Heart." It was named by Sir Charles Scarborough in
memory of Charles I., not Charles II., as often appears.
Although it is said Charles II. deserved the honour,
as he had the good sense to found Greenwich Observa-
tory. Allen states that this star was set apart in 1725
by HaUey, when Astronomer Royal, as the distinct
figure Cor Caroli. In China this star was known
as "Chang Chen," "a seat," and three stars near the
head of Asterion they called "the Three Honorary
Guardians of the Heir Apparent." It is a wide double
and is easily seen in a small telescope, hence it is a favourite
object with amateur astronomers.
Cor Caroli is one of the four stars forming the famous
figure known as "the diamond of Virgo," and comes to the
meridian at 9 p.m. on the 20th of May.
About seven degrees north and two degrees west of Cor
Caroli is the 5.5 magnitude red star which Father Secchi
83
84 Star Lore of All Ages
called "La Superba," because of "the superbly flashing
brilliancy of its prismatic rays."
The great Spiral Nebula of Lord Rosse, sometimes called
"the Whirlpool Nebula," can be seen in this region with a
low power about three degrees south-west of tj Ursae
Majoris.
Spiral Nebula in Canes Venatici
Cancer
The Crab
85
Acubens
\
A
£ead of. Hydra
. ^ v'*Asellas Borealis
Austral is/o "^^rafepe* The Bee Hive
•Tegmen
PoUusO--
Casto
1 "'^^^ Minor
O Procyon
CANCER
CANCER
THE CRAB
The Scorpion's claws here clasp a wide extent.
And here the Crab's in lesser clasps are bent.
Cancer, in spite of the fact that it is the most inconspicu-
ous of all the zodiacal constellations, is very ancient, and
has won almost universal recognition in all ages. Be-
cause of its dim appearance it has sometimes been called
"the Dark Sign," and described as "black and without
eyes," and it has been said that among all the constella-
tions not one has been the subject of more idle opinions
and more romantic suppositions than Cancer.
Macrobius states that the Chaldeans named the con-
stellation "Cancer" because the crab is an animal that
walks backward or obliquely. The sun likewise arriving
at this sign begins his apparent retrograde motion and again
descends obliquely.
According to Chaldean and Platonic philosophy, "the
gate of men, " by which souls were supposed to descend into
human bodies, was located in this constellation. Plunket
tells us that in Babylonia it seems to be established that
a tortoise, not a crab, represents the constellation Cancer.
It was so figured there and in Egypt in 4000 B.C.
In Egypt, as we learn from the zodiacs of Denderah
and Esne, it was the scarabaeus, the beetle, emblematic of
immortality, that held the place given to the crab in the
Grecian Sphere. Burritt thinks that as the Hindus in all
probability derived their knowledge of the stars from the
Chaldeans, the figure of the crab in this place is more
ancient than the beetle. .'
87
88 Star Lore of All Ages
The crab, tortoise, and beetle, the creatures selected
to represent Cancer, are similar in many respects. They
are hard shelled, insignificant in appearance, and slug-
gish in their movements, and in this latter attribute would
well typify the sun's apparent movement when it arrives
in this constellation,
"If it is admitted," says Plunket, "that in Egyptian
astronomy the beetle played the important part of mark-
ing as a constellation one of the quarters of the ecliptic
circle, then the fact that extraordinary honour is paid in
Egyptian symbolic art to this lowly and unattractive in-
sect is explained."
Aratos called the constellation xapx^oq. Latinised it
is found as "Carcinus," in the Alphonsine tables. In
some Eastern zodiacs Cancer is represented by the figure
of two asses, and some of the mediaeval astronomers re-
presented it as a lobster or crayfish. In these similes we
have, as in the case of the crab, tortoise, and beetle, slow-
moving creatures used to represent the constellation, so
that there is little doubt that this sign was meant to em-
phasise the apparent movement of the sun when it was in
this part of the zodiac.
According to the Greek legend, this is the crab that
seized the foot of Hercules when he was fighting with the
Lernean Hydra. The hero crushed the reptile to pieces
under his heel, but Juno in gratitude for the offered service,
placed the crab in the heavens. Another legend relates
that Bacchus, afflicted with insanity, betook himself to
the temple of Jove. On the way thither he came to a great
marsh, over which he was carried by an ass, one of two
which happened to be near at the time. In return for this
service, he transformed both creatures into stars. Still
another story respecting these stars claims that they owe
their place in the heavens to the fact that they were of
service to the gods in their battle with the giants. Si-
lenus and Bacchus rode them, and the loud braying of the
asses frightened their enemies.
Cancer, the Crab 89
Allen states that Cancer is said to have been the Ak-
kadian "Sun of the South," perhaps from its position at
the winter solstice in very remote antiquity, but after-
wards it was associated with the fourth month "Duzu"
(our June- July), and was known as "the Northern Gate
of the Sun." In Yucatan one of the temples was dedicated
to Cancer, and the sun when it occupied that sign was sup-
posed to descend at noon like a bird of fire, and consume
the sacrifice on the altar.
Cancer is celebrated chiefly because it contains the great
naked eye star cluster "Praesepe," the so-called "Manger,"
from which two asses, represented by stars near by, are
supposed to feed. This cluster is known in English as-
tronomical folk-lore as "the Beehive," a name we do not
know the origin of. This marvellous aggregation of suns
presents on a clear night a dim misty appearance. It has
often been mistaken for a comet.
The "Beehive" is especially interesting historically as
it afforded Galileo one of the earliest telescopic proofs of
the existence of multitudes of stars invisible to the naked
eye. He wrote: "The nebula called Praesepe, which is
not one star, only, but a mass of more than forty small
stars. I have noticed thirty stars besides the Aselli."
The great telescopes of the present day reveal in this
cluster three hundred and sixty-three stars.
Praesepe has been regarded as representing the Manger
in which Christ was bom, and Caesius likened it to the
Breastplate of Righteousness, Schiller claimed that Prae-
sepe and the Aselli represented St. John the Evangelist.
The most ancient scientific observation of Jupiter that is
known to us was noted by Ptolemy as having occurred
eighty-three years after the death of Alexander the Great,
when Jupiter happened to pass over the Manger. This
was in 240 B.C.
In June, 1895, all the planets except Neptune were in
this quarter of the heavens, and here it was that Halley's
celebrated comet appeared in 1531.
90 Star Lore of All Ages
The Manger was a celebrated weather portent, as early
as the days of Aratos and Homer. Aratos thus speaks of
it in this connection :
And watch the Manger like a little mist.
Far north, in Cancer's territory, it floats,
Its confines are two faintly glimmering stars,
One on the north, the other on the south,
These are two asses that the Manger parts,
Which suddenly, when all the sky is clear,
Sometimes quite vanishes, and the two stars
Seem closer to have moved their sundered orbs.
No feeble tempest then will soak the leas.
A murky Manger with both stars
Unaltered, is a sign of rain.
If while the Northern Ass is dimmed
By vaporous shroud, he of the south gleams radiant.
Expect a south wind. Vapour and radiance
Exchanging stars, harbinger Boreas.
Pliny wrote: "If Prassepe is not visible in a clear sky
it is a presage of a violent storm."
In China the Manger was known, says Allen, by the un-
savoury appellation, "Exhalation of Piled-up Corpses,"
and within one degree of it Mercm-y was observed from that
cotintry on June 9, 118 a.d. One of the Chinese names for
Cancer was "the Red Bird," and it was supposed to mark
one of the residences of the Red or Southern Emperor.
In astrology, like all clusters, the Beehive threatened
mischief and blindness.
In this constellation was located the 6th lunar station
of the Hindus, known as "Pushy a," meaning "Flower."
It was sometimes figured as a crescent, and again as the
head of an arrow. If lines are drawn through the stars
fjh, and 0 on the diagram it will be seen that these figures
are well named. The Hindu figure of a "flower" in this
region of the sky reveals a strange coincidence, to say the
least. In Peruvian astronomy Cancer was known as
"Cantut Pata," or "Terrace of the Cantut," the cantut
Cancer, the Crab 91
being tfie sacred flower of the Incas. Surely there is more
than a coincidence in the fact that two nations, as widely
separated as the Hindus and Peruvians, should see in this
inconspicuous group of stars a resemblance to a flower.
This fact would seem to indicate that at some time in the
remote past there was intercommunication between these
two great nations.
The cantut flower of the Incas was of a deep red colour,
and in June and July the fields around Cuzco in Peru are
ruddy with the blooms. The ritual of the Peruvian festival
of the sun included the Great Copper Dance, named from
the use by the dancers of objects of that dark red metal.
At that festival sacred cakes were eaten called "Cancu,"
made of crushed maize reddened with the blood of animals.
The keynote of the ceremonials seems to have been to
place emphasis on the colour red, the dark red hidden fire,
the colour of the distant but returning sun. The red colour
attributed to Cancer accords with the astrological allusion
associating Cancer with violent deaths or accidents by fire.
The Arabs knew Cancer as "the mouth and muzzle of
the Lion," as to them Leo was a more extensive figure than
that known to us, and included Cancer.
The Germans call the constellation "der Krebs," the
French "le Cancri" or "I'Ecrevisse."
The astrological significance of Cancer has generally
been malign. It was called "the House of the Moon,"
from the early belief that our satellite was located in Cancer
at the Creation. It governs the breast and stomach, and
reigns over Scotland, Holland, Africa, Tunis, Tripoli, Con-
stantinople, and New York. Those bom under the sign,
that is between June 21st and July 226., will have a great
love of home and family, be quick to feel the mental condi-
tion of those around them. Their natures will be quiet
and placid, opposed to haste, yet fond of amusement and
social pleasures. They dislike quarrels and are slow to
change their ideas.
The star Alpha Cancri is a double. It was known to
92 Star Lore of All Ages
the Arabs as "Acubens," meaning "the Claws," and
marks the Crab's southern claw. It culminates at 9 p.m.,
March i8th.
The two fourth magnitude stars north and south of the
Manger, y and B Cancri, were called by the Greeks "the
Aselli," the asses feeding at the manger. The Arabs
knew them by the same name.
Bailey, in his Mystic of 1858, calls them "the Aselline
Starlets." The Chaldaic name for the ass may be trans-
lated "muddiness," and Burritt thinks that this alludes to
the discolouring of the Nile, which river was rising when
the sun entered Cancer, Pliny wrote: "Sunt in Signo
Cancri duas stellae parvse, aselli appellati." In astrology
these stars were portents of violent death to such as came
under their influence. They are said to be of a burning
nature, and to give great indications of violent and severe
accidents by fire.
The star I, Cancri is a ternary or triple star. Two of
the stars can be seen with a small telescope. I quote Allen's
reference to this star: "This is a system of great interest
to astronomers, from the singular change in colour, the
probable existence of a fourth and invisible component,
and for the short period of orbital revolution — sixty
3^ears — of the two closer stars."
The symbol of the sign © probably denotes the claws
of the Crab. It is also referred to the Aselli.
Canis Major
The Greater Dog
93
;. MM
Q dolph
in
Orion
Ilitrziiii,
Furud
2 Naos In
QArgo Kavla
CANIS MAJOR
CANIS MAJOR
THE GREATER DOG
Next shines the Dog with sixty-four distinct;
Fam'd for pre-eminence in envied song,
Theme of Homeric and Virgilian lays.
EUDOSIA.
Canis Major has been considered from earliest times one
of the dogs the giant Orion took with him when he went
hunting. Some, however, claim the constellation received
its name in honour of the dog given by Aurora to Cephalus,
which was the swiftest of his species. The legend relates
that Cephalus raced the hoimd against a fox, which was
considered the fleetest of all animals. After they had
raced for' some time without either obtaining the lead,
Jupiter was so much gratified with the fleetness displayed
by the dog that he immortalised him by giving him a place
among the stars. Another story claims that this was the
dog of Icarius.
Among the Scandinavians Canis Major was regarded as
the dog of Sigurd, and in ancient India it was called
" the Deerslayer." Although mythology connects this star
group with the dog of Orion, Sirius, the brightest star in the
constellation, seems to have been associated with the idea of
a dog even among nations unacquainted with the myth of
Orion. In the famous zodiac of Denderah, Canis Major
appears in the form of a cow in a boat. It also figures on an
ivory disk found on the site of Troy, and on an ancient
Etruscan mirror.
According to Burritt, the name and form of the con-
stellation was derived from the Egyptians, who careftilly
95
96 Star Lore of All Ages
watched its rising, and by it judged of the swelling of the
Nile, which they called "Sins."
In the early classical days, says Allen, it was simply
"Canis," and represented "Laelaps," the hound of Acteon,
or that of Diana's nymph Procris. Homer called it
xuwv but this doubtless was a reference to the star
Sinus. Novidius called it "the Dog of Tobias," and
Dr. Seiss regarded Canis Major as " the Appointed
Prince."
On the maps, the Dog is generally pictured as standing
on his hind feet watching or springing after the Hare,
which cowers close under Orion's feet. Bayer and Flam-
steed differ from all others in depicting Canis Major as a
bulldog. Prof. Young describes "the Greater Dog" as
one "who sits up watching his master Orion, but with an
eye out for Lepus."
Aratos referring to Canis Major writes: "His body is
dark but a star on his jaw sparkles with more life than any
other star." This is of course a reference to Sirius, the
brightest of all the fixed stars, and probably the star w^hich
has attracted the most imiversal attention of all the
heavenly hosts.
In the early histories and inscriptions we find many
astronomical references to "the Dog," but it is uncertain
whether the constellation or the star Sirius is intended.
The Arabian astronomers called the constellation "Al-
Kalb-al-Akbar," meaning "the Greater Dog." In the
Euphratean star list Canis Major is styled "the Dog of
the Sun." Early Christians thought the figvu^e represented
Tobias's dog or St. David.
The importance of the constellation is overshadowed
by the fame of its lucida, Sirius, the "King of Suns,"
concerning which star volumes have been written. Its
matchless brilliancy has inspired the poets of all ages, and
historically Sirius is beyond question the most interest-
ing of all the stars in the firmament.
Aratos thus refers to Sirius :
Canis Major, the Greater Dog 97
In his fell jaw
Flames a star above all others with searing beams
Fiercely burning, called by mortals Sirius.
Eudosia writing of the Greater Dog says, "His fierce
mouth flames with dreaded Sirius," and Victor Hugo in
The Vanished City thus alludes to the might of this
kingly star:
When like an Emir of tyrannic power
Sirius appears and on the horizon black
Bids countless stars pursue their mighty track.
Aside from the fact of its surpassing brilliance, the fact
that Sirius is visible from every habitable portion of the
globe has served to make it from time immemorial the
nocturnal cynosure of all the nations of the earth.
The sight of this majestic star, clad as it were in all its
wealth of history, rising over the snow-crowned hills on a
crisp winter's night, flashing to us like a great beacon a
message from infinite space, in letters of rainbow hue, is
one of entrancing beauty. '
The name Sirius is supposed to be derived from the
Greek word aefpto? which signifies brightness and heat.
It is thought by some to represent the three-headed dog
Cerberus, who guarded the entrance to Hades, according
to Greek mythology.
Allen states that the risings and settings of Sirius were
regularly tabulated in Chaldea about 300 B.C., and that it
is the only star known to us with absolute certitude in the
Egyptian records, its hieroglyph often appearing on the
monuments and temple walls throughout the Nile country.
According to Blake, ^ the hieroglyphics representing
' Serviss thus mentions Sirius: "The renown of Sirius is as ancient
as the human race. There has never been a time or a people in which
or by whom it was not worshipped, reverenced, and admired. To the
builders of the Egyptian temples and pyramids it was an object as
familiar as the sun itself."
'Astronomical Myths, by J. F. Blake.
98 Star Lore of All Ages
Sinus varied in accordance with the different functions the
Egyptians ascribed to the star, "When they wished to
signify that it opened the year, it was represented as a
porter bearing keys, or else they gave it two heads, one of
an old man to represent the passing year, and the other of a
younger to denote the succeeding year. When they would
represent it as giving warning of the inundation of the Nile
they painted it as a dog. To illustrate what they were to do
when it appeared Anubis had in his arms a stew-pot, wings
to his feet, a large feather under his arm, two reptiles, a
tortoise and a duck behind him."
Mrs. Martin thus alludes to this glorious sun: "He
comes richly dight in many coloiu-s, twinkling fast, and
changing with each motion from tints of ruby to
sapphire and emerald and amethyst. As he rises higher
and higher in the sky he gains composure and his beams
now sparkle like the most brilliant diamond, not pure
white but slightly tinged with iridescence."
Blake gives us the following interesting description of
Sirius in the role of herald of the inundation of the Nile :
"This star seems to have been intimately connected with
Egypt and to have derived its name from that country,
and in this way : The overflowing of the Nile was always
preceded by an Etesian wind (that is an annual periodic
wind answering to the monsoons) which, blowing from
north to south about the time of the passage of the sun
beneath the stars of the Crab, drove the mists to the south,
and accumulated them over the country whence the Nile
takes its source, causing abundant rains, and hence the
flood. The greatest importance was attached to the fore-
telling the time of this event, so that the people might be
ready with their provisions, and their places of security.
The moon was no use for this piu-pose, but the stars were,
for the inundation commenced when the sun was in the
stars of the Lion. At this time the stars of the Crab just
appeared in the morning, but with them at some distance
from the ecliptic, Sirius rose. The morning rising of this
Canis Major, the Greater Dog 99
star was a sure prectirsor of the inundation. It seemed to
them to be a warning star by whose first appearance they
were to be ready to move to safer spots, and thus acted
for each family the part of a faithftd dog, whence they
gave it the name of 'the Dog' or 'Monitor,' in Egyptian
'Anubis,' in Phoenician 'Hannobeach.' "
Sirius, on account of this great service which it rendered
the Egyptians, was held in great reverence by them and
called "the Nile Star." Under the name Anubis it was
deified and this god was emblematically represented by
the figure of a man with the head of a dog. It was also
worshipped under the names "Sothis" and "Sihor."
Sirius was furthermore known to the Egyptians as
"Isis" and "Osiris." If the first letter is omitted from
this latter appellation we get "Siris," a name very similar
to the modern title of the star.
Other Egyptian names for the star were "Thoth" or
"Tayaut" meaning "the Dog," "Hathor," the barker, the
monitor, and at Philae it was called "Sati."
Sirius was worshipped in the valley of the Nile long
before Rome had been heard of. In its honour many tem-
ples were erected so magnificent in their architectural
proportions as to excite wonder and amazement even in
this age of noble edifices.
Lockyer found seven Egyptian temples so arranged that
the beams from this brilliant star in its rising or setting
penetrated to the inner altar, the holy of holies. This
feature of architecture is called orientation. Notable
among these temples oriented to Sirius was the temple of
Isis at Denderah, where Sirius was known as "Her Majesty
of Denderah." Here the rising beams of Sirius flashed
down the long vista of the massive pylons, and illumined
the inner recesses of the temple. What a wonderful sight
there must have been enacted within that darkened edifice
when, in the presence of a vast multitude silent in medita-
tion, there suddenly appeared a beam of silver light, that
laved the marble altar in a refulgence born of the depths of
100 Star Lore of All Ages
the infinite, a beam, although the watchers knew it not
that started on its earthward journey eight and a half years
before it greeted their eyes !
The temple priests, versed to some extent in astronomi-
cal lore, knew well the psychological moment of the ap-
pearance of the light, and doubtless to fiirther increase
their prestige, and convey the idea that they were endowed
with supernatural powers, so ordered the ritual that the
greatest possible superstitious effect would be brought
about by the seeming apparition. The awe inspired by
the silence of the multitude worked up to a fever pitch of
expectancy, and the excitement bom of their desire to
witness what they must have regarded as a manifestation
of divine power, all conduced to make the moment one
long to be remembered, and the event one of the greatest
possible significance to the race.
It has been determined that the Babylonian star named
"Sukudu" or "Kaksidi" was Sirius, for we are told
that it was one of the seven most brilliant stars and
a star of the south. The same star is also called "di-
recting star" because connected with the beginning of
the year.
According to Lockyer, Sirius rose cosmically, or with
the sun, in the year 700 B.C. on the Egyptian New Year's
Day. In mythological language "she mingled her light
with that of her father Ra [the sun] on the great day of the
year." This is the first instance of the personification of a
star.
"It is possible" says Maunder, "that the two great
stars which follow Orion — Sirius and Procyon, known to
the ancients generally and to us to-day as ' the Dogs ' —
were by the Babylonians known as 'the Bow Star' and
'the Lance Star' respectively, the weapons that is to say of
Orion or Merodach." Jensen also identifies Sirius with
the Bow Star.
Homer compared Sirius to Diomedes' shield, and called
it "the Star of Autumn."
Photo by Bonfils
The Temple at Luxor
Canis Major, the Greater Dog loi
the autumnal star whose brilliant ray
Shines eminent amid the depth of night,
Whom men the dog star of Orion call.
Homer regarded Sirius as a star of ill omen, as it was sup-
posed to produce fevers. Pope's translation of Homer's
lines indicates the baleful influence ascribed to Sirius:
A star whose burning breath
Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.
The description of the rising of this star is the only indica-
tion in the Homeric poems of the use of a stellar calendar.
Manilius seems to have had two views respecting Sirius.
In one place he writes:
All others he excels, no fairer light
Ascends the skies, none sits so clear and bright.
In another we find:
from his [Sinus's] nature flow
The most aflflicting powers that rule below.
The Arab name for Sirius was "Al-Shira-al-jamdnija,"
meaning "the bright star of Yemen." Gore thinks that
the word "Shira" might have been corrupted in the course
of time into Sirius. Al-Shira was also interpreted "the
Doorkeeper, " Sirius being regarded as the star which opens
or shuts. The Arabs also called this star "the Dog Star."
In modem Arabia it is "Suhail," the general designation
for bright stars.
The so-called "Dog Days" got their name from the fact
that in the hottest days of summer Sirius, the Dog Star,
blends his piercing rays with those of the god of day.
This is of course metaphorical, as the heat we receive from
Sirius is inappreciable.
According to Max MuUer, the special Indian astronomical
name of the Dog Star signified a hunter and deer-slayer.
102 Star Lore of All Ages
He is of the opinion that Sirius was called the Dog Star on
account of the prevalence of canine madness in the summer
season.
"^ Sirius has been appropriately called "the sparkling star"
or "Scorcher," and the sun and Sirius have been called
"wandering stars." It has been thought that Sirius is
identical with the Mazzaroth mentioned in the Book of Job.
It seemed to be the prevailing idea among the ancient
Eastern nations that the rising of Sirius would be coincident
with a period of heat and pestilence. Virgil well describes
the state of affairs when Sirius mingled his beams with
those of the day-star.
Parched was the grass and blighted was the com,
Nor 'scape the beasts, for Sirius from on high
With pestilential heat infests the sky.
Hesiod, who was the first to mention Sirius, wrote in like
vein: "When Sirius parches head and knees and the body
is dried up by reason of heat, sit in the shade and drink."
Such advice was doubtless as popular then as now dur-
ing the dog days.
Euripides also refers to the fiery nature of Sirius, de-
scribing the star as "sending flames of fire drawn from
the heavens."
Apollonius Rhodius speaks of Sirius "burning the islands
of Minos."
Horace says: "Here in a quiet valley you will escape
the heat of the Dog Star," and in his celebrated ode to the
Bandusian Fount he writes :
'Gainst flaming Sirius fiery thou art proof.
The question whether Sirius has changed in colour since
early times has given rise to considerable controversy.
Ptolemy called it fiery red, Seneca claimed it was redder
than Mars. Cicero also mentions its ruddy light, and
Tennyson wrote:
God Anubis
Canis Major, the Greater Dog 103
The fiery Sinus alters hue and bickers into red and emerald.
Dr. See, the eminent astronomer of the present day,
asserts that eighteen hundred years ago Sirius was red.
There is a reference in Festus to the effect that the Roman
farmers sacrificed ruddy or fawn-coloured dogs to save the
fruits on account of the Dog Star, and Dr. See says there is
no reason why the Romans should sacrifice red dogs ex-
cept that Sirius was red, and dogs of the same colour must
be offered up to the Dog in the sky. There can be no
doubt that many of the ancients looked upon red stars as
angry deities. Now Sirius is a white star with a bluish
tinge, and Allen says that the weight of authority respecting
the change in colour of Sirius seems to negative the idea
that there has been any change.
' Some writers identify the Masonic emblem of the Blaz-
ing Star with Sirius, the most splendid and glorious of all
the stars.
Topelius, the Finnish poet, fancifully imagines that the
great brilliancy of Sirius is due to the combined light of two
stars, represented as lovers meeting and embracing:
Straight rushed into each other's arms
And melted into one,
So they became the brightest star
In heaven's high arch and dwelt
Great Sirius, the mighty sun,
Beneath Orion's belt.
Although thepoet's idea is bom of fancy there is neverthe-
less truth in the statement that we receive from Sirius
the combined light of two stars, for Sirius has a faint com-
panion visible only in the most powerful telescopes, and the
discovery of this star furnishes an interesting chapter in
astronomical history.
The famous German astronomer Bessel expressed his
belief about seventy years ago, after ten years of observa-
tion, that the periodical variations in the motion of Sirius
104 Star Lore of All Ages
was produced by the attraction of an invisible companion,
revolving around the gigantic star. On Jan. 31, 1862,
Alvan G. Clark, at Cambridge, Mass., while testing the
183^" glass for the Dearborn Observatory at Chicago,
pointed the glass at Sirius, when the disturbing companion
came suddenly into \'iew at a distance of about 10 seconds
from Sirius, and exactly in the direction predicted for that
time.
The period of revolution of the companion around
Sirius was found to be nearly fifty years, and within a few
months of the time calculated by Bessel, long before the
telescope had revealed its presence. The mass of Sirius
is about twice the mass of its companion, yet its light is
40,000 times greater.
The following facts concerning Sirius may be of interest :
We know now that the brightness of a star is no indication
of its distance from us, but Sirius which is 93^ times brighter
than a standard first magnitude star is only 8}/^ light j^ears
away, and only four other stars are known to be nearer.
If our sun occupied the place of Sirius in the sky, it
would appear as a third magnitude star.
There is considerable discrepancy among the authorities
as to the size and brilliance of Sirius as compared with the
sun. Its diameter is given as fourteen or eighteen times
that of the sun. As regards its brightness, Newcomb states
that Sirius is thirty times brighter than the sun, a modest
estimate, as other authorities claim for Sirius a brilliance
of forty, sixty- three, two hundred, and even three hundred
times that of the day-star.
The spectroscope reveals that Sirius is completely en-
veloped in a dense atmosphere of hydrogen gas. It is the
brightest of the so-called Sirian stars, the spectroscopic
type I., which includes more than half of all the stars yet
studied.
Sirius has a large proper motion — that is the angular
change in the position of a star athwart the line of vision —
as compared with the average proper motion of stars of the
Canis Major, the Greater Dog 105
first magnitude. It amounts to 1.31". In this connec-
tion it is interesting to note Al-Sufi's statement concerning
the Arab name for Sirius, "Al-ab{ir." According to this
noted astronomer Sirius was so-called because it had passed
across the Milky Way into the southern region of the sky.
It is a remarkable fact that the proper motion of Sirius
would have carried it across the Milky Way from the
eastern to the western border in 60,000 years. Possibly the
Arabian story may be based on a tradition of Sirius having
been seen on the opposite side of the Milky Way by the
men of the Stone Age.
It is generally conceded that this star is receding from
us, its rate of speed given variously by different authorities
as from eighteen to forty miles a second. It comes to the
meridian at 9 p.m., Feb. nth,
The Arab names and meanings of the principal stars in
Canis Major, Sirius excepted, are appended:
Name Meaning
^ Murzim the Announcer
B Wezen Weight
s Adara the Virgins
^ Furud the Bright Single One
T] Aludra the Virgin.
Canis Minor
The Lesser Dog
107
\r-°v The Head
/ \ of
/ \ Hydra
Pol
,,,9 ^
j Cast
/
/
/
\
Goraeisa
CANIS MINOR
Monoceros
Betelgeuze
in
Orion
o
«.\"i
• i
CANIS MINOR
CANIS MINOR
THE LESSER DOG
Canicula, fourteen thy stars; but far
Above them all, illustrious through the skies,
Beams Procyon; justly by Greece thus called,
The bright forerunner of the greater Dog.
Canis Minor, according to mythology, was one of the
hunting dogs that accompanied the giant hunter Orion,
and hence it was sometimes called "Canis Orionis."
Burritt thinks that the Egyptians were the inventors of
this constellation, and as it always rises a little before
the Dog Star, which at a particular season they so much
dreaded, it is properly represented as a little watchful
creature, giving notice like a faithful sentinel of the other's
approach.
In the valley of the Euphrates it seems to have been re-
garded as a water dog, on account of its standing on the
border of the Milky Way, which represented to the an-
cients a river in the sky.
Canis Minor has been identified with the Egyptian god
Anubis, but Sirius is generally associated with that dog-
headed divinity.
Some think the Lesser Dog was the hound of Diana,
noted for her love of the chase. Others think that it repre-
sents the faithful dog Mcera, which belonged to Icarius,
and discovered to his daughter Erigone the place of his
burial. It has also been considered to represent Helen's
favourite, lost in the Euripus, that she prayed Jove might
live again in the sky, and Act£Eon's hound that devoured
his master after Diana had transformed him into a stag.
109
I lo Star Lore of All Ages
Schiller thought the figure represented the Paschal Lamb.
The traditional figure of Canis Minor represents it as a
well-trained house or watch dog, in contrast with the fierce
aspect of the Greater Dog, which is generally depicted as
rearing on his hind legs, with the star Sirius blazing in his
wide-stretched jaws.
This constellation was included in the great figure of the
Lion known to the Arabs, but they called the star Procyon,
the lucida of the constellation, "the forerunner of the
Greater Dog," and "the blear-eyed Sirius." According
to Gore, the Arabs also called Procyon "the S3rrian Sirius,"
because it set in the direction of Syria.
The Romans sometimes called the constellation "Canis"
or "Catellus," meaning "the puppy."
Ptolemy accords Canis Minor only two stars, Procyon,
and Gomeisa or Gomelza, while Burritt's and Argelander's
maps show fotirteen and fifteen stars here.
The constellation owes its fame to the first magnitude star
Procyon, one of the most interesting stars in the heavens.
"See Procyon too glittering beneath the Twins," says
Aratos.
The Greeks called this star xpoxuwv, meaning "before
the Dog," the Latin "Antecanis" or " Antecanem," a
reference to its rising prior to Sirius. As the rising of
Sirius v/as a warning sign to the Egyptians of the inunda-
tion of the Nile, so the appearance of Procyon, the brilliant
in the Lesser Dog, warned them still farther in advance of
this all-important event. The Babylonians knew Procyon
as "the Sceptre of Bel."
In these two constellations of the Greater and Lesser
Dogs, we have very good examples of the practical use
the stars played in the everyday life of the ancients, and
in a measure we see a reason for some of the names of the
constellations, which in so many cases seem absurd and
irrelevant, Here, as in many of the constellations, there
is no resemblance in the configurations of the stars to the
figures they are supposed to represent. In Canis Minor
Photo by Brogi
Actaeon Attacked by the Hounds of Diana
National Museum, Palermo
Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog iii
with its two stars of any prominence, it would take a
fertile imagination to descry the figure of a canine; but
when we realise its importance as a warning sign set in the
sky for all to observe, then we perceive the significance
and appropriateness of the title of the constellation.
Horace, in his celebrated ode to Maecenas, accredits to
Procyon the fiery nature attributed by all to Sinus. He
writes :
Now Procyon flames with fiercest fire;
a line which Mr. Gladstone translates:
The heavens are hot with Procyon's rays.
Both Sirius and Procyon seem to have conveyed to the
ancients the idea of scorching fire and great heat which
the dog days at present suggest to us.
Allen tells us that Procyon was "the star of the crossing
of the water-dog," mentioned in the Euphratean cylinders
and that the natives of the Hervey Islands regarded Pro-
cyon as their goddess Vena.
Mrs. Martin referring to Procyon writes: "It is in
fact a most beautiful star, and is only the sixth in order of
brightness among the stars seen in oiir latitude. It is very
distinctly individual, being the only one among the beauti-
ful winter group that is lightly tinged with yellow. It is
one of the Sirian class of stars, but is somewhat further
developed than Sirius, and is beginning to have the golden
tint which signifies that it is approaching the time of life
into which Capella and the sun are well passed."
Al-Sufi, the noted Arabian astronomer, in his Descrip-
tion of the Fixed Stars, written in the loth century a.d.,
relates the following legend concerning the two Dog Stars :
"Al-ab<ir (Sirius) and Al-gumaisa (Procyon) were two
sisters of Suhail (Canopus). Canopus married Rigel,
and soon after, having kiUed his wife, fled toward the South
Pole, fearing the ^nger of his sisters. Sirius followed him
112 Star Lore of All Ages
across the Milky Way, but Procyon remained behind and
wept for Suhail till her eyes became weak,"
According to Dr. Elkins, Procyon is nine and one half
light years from our system, and Vogel claims that it is
approaching us at the rate of nearly six miles a second.
It is estimated that it emits anywhere from three to eight
times as much light as the sun, and it has a thirteenth
magnitude companion, discovered in 1896, revolving about
it with a period of revolution of about forty years.
Astrologically this star portended wealth, fame, and
good fortune. It comes to the meridian at 9 p.m. on the
24th of February.
Beta Canis Minoris is a star of the third magnitude.
It wa? known to the Arabs as "Gomeisa" or "Gomelza"
from their name for the constellation, which was "Ghu-
maisa." This star was noted by Ptolemy, and the Arabs
used the distance between this star and Procyon to mark
their short cubit, their long cubit being the distance sep-
arating Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini.
In spite of the fact that Canis Minor is one of the smallest
constellations as regards its bounds, it contains four noted
variable stars of long period.
Capricornus
The Sea Goat
113
8ipei
~ Prima Giedi
a'
Datih.
{OoiUiUii
CAPRICORNUS
CAPRICORNUS
THE SEA GOAT
Of Pan we sing, the best of leaders Pan,
That leads the Naiads and the Dryads forth.
Ben Jonson.
Very few constellations have come down to us unchanged
in form through all the ages. An exception to this is found
in the figure of Capricomus, which is generally depicted
with the head and body of a goat and the tail of a fish.
Allen says that although we do not know when Capri-
comus came into the zodiac, we may be confident that it
was millenniums ago, perhaps in prehistoric days. After
Cancer it is the most inconspicuous constellation in the
zodiac, and it seems strange on this account that these
signs should have held such a place of importance in the
minds of the ancients, and that they should have survived
without change of figure the assaults of the ages that these
stars have gazed upon.
The Capricorn which appears on the Babylonian boimd-
ary stones, the most ancient of all records extant, is to all
intents and purposes identical in form with the Capricorn
of a modem almanac.
According to Macrobius, the Chaldeans named the con-
stellation "the Wild Goat," because that animal in feed-
ing always ascends the hills, and is naturally a climbing
animal. The sun in like manner when it arrives at Capri-
comus begins to mount the sky, and hence the goat was
adopted as a symbol of the apparent climbing motion of
the sun, while the fish-tail was significant of the rains and
floods of the winter season.
"5
ii6 Star Lore of All Ages
This is the explanation of this figure given by most
authorities on constellational history to account for the
amphibious character of Capricornus. It also explains
the ancient oriental legend that Jupiter was suckled by
the goat Amalthea, the meaning of which appears to be
that the sun, emerging from the stars of Capricornus at
the winter solstice, begins to grow in light and heat as he
mounts toward the vernal equinox. He is thus figuratively
said to be nourished by a goat.
Maunder takes exception to this explanation, and
holds that as the constellations were mapped out many
centuries before the winter solstice fell in Capricornus,
this view of the matter, though ingenious, is illogical and
erroneous.
Capricornus was called by the ancient Oriental nations
"the Southern Gate of the Sun." In Grecian mythology
it was considered "the Gate of the Gods," and through
its stars the souls of men released at death were supposed
to pass to the hereafter.
Allen tells us that Aratos called this constellation
'AiYoxspwq the "Horned Goat," to distinguish it from
the "At^ of Auriga. The Latinised form, "iEgoceros," was
in frequent use with all classical authors who wrote on
astronomy.
"The Yoke" was another title borne by the constella-
tion, a name suggested by the configuration of the three
principal stars, a, ^, and S. According to Brown, the Akka-
dai, the most ancient nation known to us, called the tenth
month "the cave of the rising" (of the sun), and its noc-
turnal sign Capricornus, the solar goat, a reduplication of
the solar ram, represented the sun rising from the great
deep of the under world, as Shakespeare puts it: "from the
blind cave of eternal night," and hence a demi-fish.
The Romans considered that Capricornus was under
the special protection of Vesta, and they regarded the con-
stellation with great veneration as having shed its influence
on the birth of Augustus. We find the figure of a goat on
G S
O 3
Capricornus, the Sea Goat 117
coins of his period, and Smyth tells us that it was "the
very pet of all the constellations with astrologers."
The Arabians also considered Capricornus with great
favour, and called it "Al-Jady," meaning "the goat."
Burritt states that Capricornus is identical with Pan or
Bacchus, who with some other deities were one day feast-
ing near the bank of the river Nile, when suddenly the
dreadful giant Typhon came upon them, and compelled
them all to assume a different shape in order to escape
his fury. Pan took the lead and plunged into the river, and
the part of his body which was under the water assumed
the form of a fish, and that above water the form of a
goat. To preserve the memory of the fable, Jupiter
made Pan into a constellation, in his metamorphosed
shape.
The Greeks sometimes called the constellation simply
"Pan." From this word we get our word "panic," which
is the sort of fear that is bom of the imagination, and Pan
was said to terrorise people by the mere thought of his
presence.
In spite of Pan's evil nature of inciting panics, he was
regarded as the god of rural scenery, shepherds, and hunts-
men, and also as the god of plenty. The emblem of plenty,
the cornucopia or "horn of plenty," is connected with the
mythological history of Capricornus.
The legend relates that the father of the gods gave one
of the goat's horns to the nymphs who had nursed Jupiter
in his infancy as a reward for their kind services, and that
this horn was endowed with a wonderful virtue. It pro-
vided whatever the holder desired, and hence was known
as "the horn of plenty." The real sense of this fable,
divested of poetical embellishment, appears to be this:
"There was in Crete, some say Lybia, a small territory
shaped very much like a bullock's horn, and exceedingly
fertile, which the king presented to his daughter Amal-
thea, whom the poets claim was the nurse of the infant
Jupiter" (Burritt).
ii8 Star Lore of All Ages
The emblem of the cornucopia is a masonic emblem,
and corroborates the fact that the major part of masonic
symbolism has an astronomical significance.
Capricornus is connected in Egyptian astronomy with
"the god of waters," and is associated, as the star Sirius
is, with the inundation of the Nile. It was also known as
the goat-god "Mendes," in the Egyptian zodiac.
Dr. Seiss claims that the Sea Goat represents a symbol
of sacrifice and atonement. Cassius called it "Azazel,"
"the Scapegoat," and "Simon Zelotis," "the Apostle."
Capricornus marked the 226. Hindu lunar station,
"Abhikit," meaning "conquering," and Flammarion as-
serts that there is a Chinese record of 2449 B.C. which lo-
cates among the stars of Capricornus a conjunction of the
five planets. There was an early prediction made, that
when all the planets met in this sign the world would be
destroyed by a great conflagration.
Capricornus has also borne the strange title "the
Double Ship," a name that bears out its maritime
character appropriately enough, as we find the Sea
Goat in that region of the heavens known to the ancients
as "the Sea," and surrounded by other creatures of the
deep.
Allen states that the symbol of this constellation, V3, is
thought to be -up, the initial letters of the Greek xg<kfo<;,
meaning "Goat," but Lalande claims that it represents
the twisted tail of the creature. Capricornus figures on an
ancient Egyptian mirror. The mirror was emblematic of
life, and there may be a connection here between the em-
blem of life, and the new life established by souls passing
through these stars to the life eternal.
The Peruvian year, says Hagar, probably began at
the December solstice with the celebration of the most
important of their festivals, known as "the festival
of the beard." During this month the sun is passing
through our sign of Capricornus. The corresponding
Peruvian constellation is called "Nuccu," meaning "the
Capricornus, the Sea Goat 119
Beard." The name refers directly to the widespread
myth in which the sun, then at the height of his power
in the southern hemisphere, is figured as Capra, "the
bearded one." The beard seems to be the character-
istic emphasised in connection with the constellation, and
the participants in the ceremonial dances during the festi-
val wore masks with long beards. The beard is one of
the chief characteristics of the goat. Thus we find na-
tions widely separated, and at a very remote time, with a
common notion respecting an inconspicuous star group.
Such a grotesque figure, recognised in common by different
nations, is too great a coincidence to savour of individual
creation.
It has been said that the tribe of Napthali adopted this
sign as their banner emblem, although the sign Virgo has
also been allotted to them. The Latin poets designated it
as "Neptune's offspring," thus preserving its maritime
significance. We also find it called by a Greek appellation
signifying "Swordfish," while in the Aztec calendar it
appeared with a figure like that of a narwhal. The Tamil
name for it signified "Antelope."
Astrologically considered Capricornus was the House
of Saturn, the mansion of kings; black russet or a swarthy
brown was the colotu* assigned to it, and Proctor tells us
that this sign gives to its natives a dry constitution, and
slender build, with a long thin visage. It governs the knees
and hams, and reigns over India, Macedonia, Thrace,
Greece, Mexico, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Oxford.
It is feminine and unfortunate, a conclusion totally at
variance with the Romans ' exalted idea of the constella-
tion. Those bom between the dates Dec. 21st and Jan.
20th are bom under this sign. Such persons are proud,
self-reliant, and practical, fastidious, dignified, and sincere
in affection. Their tendency to idealise brings suffering.
March and November are the lucky months, and Saturday
the auspicious day. The flower is the snowdrop, and
the precious stone, chalcedony.
120 Star Lore of All Ages
Aratos thus describes Capricomus:
the Goat
Dim in the midst, but four fair stars surround him,
One pair set close, the other wider parted.
This first pair, a^ and a' Capricomi, respectively called
"Prima and Secunda Giedi," are situated in the head of
the Sea Goat. Burritt calls them "Giedi" and "Dabih"
respectively, the former being the most northern of the two,
and a double star. The star name "Dabih" is an Arabic
appellation meaning, curiously enough, "the Lucky One
of the Slaughterers," referring to the sacrifice celebrated
by the Arabs at the heliacal rising of Capricorn.
The other wider parted pair of stars referred to by
Aratos are S and y Capricomi, named respectively "Deneb
Algiedi," meaning "the Tail of the Goat," and "Nashira"
—"the Fortunate One" or "Bringer of Good Tidings."
8 is an interesting star because it marks the approximate
position of the discovery of the planet Neptune.
The discovery of Neptune is one of the most interesting
episodes in the history of astronomical discovery, and a
brief account of it is worth recording here.
Early in the 19th century it was found that the planet
Uranus was straying widely from its predicted positions.
Two astronomers, Adams in England, and Le Verrier in
France, working independently and without each other's
knowledge, endeavoured to ascertain the causes of the per-
turbations, basing their calculations on the supposition
that an undiscovered planet beyond Uranus was the dis-
turbing factor.
Adams began his work in 1843, Le Verrier in 1845.
Adams communicated the results of his labour to the As-
tronomer Royal of England, but unfortunately the data
were pigeon-holed. Le Verrier, who sent his calculations to
Galle, the eminent German astronomer, was more for-
tunate. Galle turned his telescope toward the position
in the sky determined by Le Verrier, and discovered the
Capricornus, the Sea Goat 121
planet Neptune. This was on Sept. 23, 1846. Adams at
once called attention to his data, which on being referred
to were found to coincide with Le Verrier's result. Thus
was England robbed of the triumph, but Adams's name
has always been coupled with that of Le Verrier as the
discoverer of the planet. It may be of interest that the
veteran Galle died but a short time ago, July lo, 1910, at
the age of ninety-nine.
The remaining stars in the constellation are faint, and of
no special interest. When seen on a clear night the con-
stellation resembles an inverted cocked hat.
Cassiopeia ^
The Lady in the Chair '<>-
«3
8
'X
5"
Dlsoorered by
Caroline Hershel
3
Schedar
0
^^
4
^
Caph
Kuchbah
1678 D
CASSIOPEIA
Cepheus
X
M^
CASSIOPEIA
CASSIOPEIA
THE LADY IN THE CHAIR
. . . look but aside a little,
Just by the first coil of the crooked Dragon
There rolls unhappy, not conspicuous
When the full moon is shining, Cassiopeia.
Aratos.
Cassiopeia is one of the oldest and most popular of the
constellations. Popular because many are able to see in
the arrangement of its stars the resemblance to a chair, and
hence the familiar name for the constellation is "Cassio-
peia's Chair."
Such stress has been laid on the throne, that the pre-
sence of the Queen seated upon it is lost sight of. Be-
cause of the circumpolar motion of the stars, the Queen
often suffers the humiliating position of standing on her
head. She was placed, so the legend runs, in this cruel
position in the heavens by her enemies the sea nymphs,
as she had boasted that her beauty surpassed theirs.
Desiring to teach her humility they imposed this punish-
ment. ' Milton in // Penseroso thus refers to Cassiopeia:
that starred Ethiop's queen that strove
To set her beauty's praise above
The sea nymphs and their power offended.
Cassiopeia is sometimes called "heaven troubled queen"
and "unhappy Cassiopeia" and in view of the giddy whirl
she is subjected to, such appellations are appropriate to say
125
126 Star Lore of All Ages
the least, Aratos mentions her uncertain position in the
heavens :
She head foremost like a tumbler sits.
The Arabs called Cassiopeia "the Lady in the Chair,'*
but curiously enough the early Arabs had in this place a
very different figure in no way connected with the figure
known to us. They called this star group "the large
hand stained with henna" or "the tinted hand," the bright
stars marking the finger tips. They also made out of
the constellations Cepheus and Cassiopeia, two dogs, and
some times referred to Cassiopeia as "the kneeling camel."
In this constellation we have, therefore, an example of
the fertile imagination of the early Oriental star-gazers, and
a curious combination of objects assigned to a group of
stars that is not especially conspicuous, — a lady in a chair,
a tinted hand, a dog, and a kneeling camel.
As the stars of this constellation revolve about the Pole,
they form when below it a slightly distorted capital "M."
This is reversed when Cassiopeia is above the Pole, and we
have a celestial letter "W" that enables many to identify
the constellation.
In Greece at one time this constellation was known as
"the Laconian Key," from its fancied resemblance to that
article, and Aratos makes the following reference to this
title:
Not many are the stars nor thickly set
That, ranged in line, mark her whole figure oat»
But like a key that forces back the bolts
Which kept the double door secured within
So shaped her stars you singly trace along.
Renouf identified Cassiopeia with the Egyptian star
group known as "the Leg," and thus mentioned in the
"Book of the Dead," the Bible of Egypt, that most ancient
ritual four thousand years old or more: "Hail, leg of the
northern sky in the large visible basin."
Cassiopeia belonged to the so-called "Royal Family"
Cassiopeia, the Lady in the Chair 127
of Starland, and in Greek mythology is connected with the
well-known story of Perseus and Andromeda.
Burritt gives the following concise account of the part
Cassiopeia played in this drama:
"Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus, king of ^Ethio-
pia, and mother of Andromeda. She was a queen of match-
less beauty, and seemed to be sensible of it, for she even
boasted herself fairer than Juno, the sister of Jupiter,
or the Nereides, a name given to the sea nymphs. This so
provoked the ladies of the sea that they complained to Nep-
tune of the insult, who sent a frightful monster to ravage
her coast as a punishment for her insolence. In addi-
tion, Neptune demanded a sacrifice of Cassiopeia's daughter
Andromeda." The sequel to this sad tale is related in the
mythological references to the constellations Perseus and
Andromeda.
Brown thinks that this whole story of the sacrifice of
Andromeda is Phoenician. He tells us that Cassiopeia was
known as "Eur5mom§" or "Quassiu-peaer," meaning
"beauty" or "rosy faced." In the cuneiform inscrip-
tions we meet with the goddess "Kasseba," probably an
ancient form of Cassiopeia. On the Assyrian tablets Cas-
siopeia was "the Lady of Corn," and the Alphonsine tables
described the figure as holding the consecrated palm.
There seems to be a decided resemblance between Cas-
siopeia and the constellation Virgo, which may be nothing
more than a coincidence. Virgo we find was called "the
Maiden of the Harvest," and was represented as holding
a sheaf of wheat or an ear of corn in her hand, and Cassio-
peia as we have seen was called "The Lady of Corn."
Again Virgo was represented as a sunburned damsel,
while Cassiopeia was called "^thiop's Queen," clearly in-
dicating her dusky complexion. The Arabs associated dogs
with both constellations.
Cassiopeia is represented on some old maps as holding a
palm in her left hand, Virgo is invariably represented as
carrying a branch in her left hand.
128 Star Lore of All Ages
As "the Lady of Com," Cassiopeia was also designated
as "the Creatress of Seed." We also find that the Peruvians
identified Virgo with the Earth Mother, and Maunder tells
us that the ear of com in the Virgin's hand may well be in_
terpreted as referring to the "Seed of the Woman" who
was bom of the Virgin.
Prof. Young has given us a mnemonic word, "Begdi," to
assist in recalling the Greek-letter names of the stars in
both constellations. In these ways, therefore, there seems
to be a distinct similarity between these two female figures
widely separated from each other in the starry skies.
Plunket suggests 3500 B.C. as the date, and 23 degrees
north as the latitude of the invention of this constellation.
In the 17th century, when there was an effort made to
attach a religious significance to the constellations, Cas-
siopeia became Mary Magdalene, or Deborah sitting in
judgment under her palm tree in Mount Ephraim, or
Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, worthy to sit on the
royal throne.
The Eskimos imagine that a, p, and y Cassiopeias, three
stars forming an isosceles triangle, represent the three
stones supporting a celestial stone lamp. They call the
constellation * ' Ibrosi . ' '
Cassiopeia in its continual circling of the Pole of the heav-
ens makes an excellent illuminated timepiece. Imagine
that ^ Cassiopeias is the hour hand. When it is above Po-
laris it is noon, when it is in the west at right angles to
its first position, it is 6 p.m. At midnight it is on the north-
ern horizon, and at 6 a.m. it is due east. The time kept
by this perpetual clock is of course Sidereal Time (star
time), which differs from civil time in that the day be-
gins at noon instead of at midnight. By recalling that
the sidereal clock agrees with the mean solar clock on
March 226. or thereabouts, and gains at the rate of two
hours a month, one can easily pass to ordinary solar time.
This is the simplest way to tell time by looking at the
stars.
Cassiopeia, the Lady in the Chair 129
Alpha Cassiopeias was known to the Arabs as "Schedar"
or "Schedir," meaning "the Breast." Burritt tells us that
Schedir is from "El Seder," the "Seder tree," a name given
to the constellation by Ulugh Beg. Schedir was discovered
to be a variable star by Birt in 1831. It cvilminates at
9 P.M., Nov, i8th.
Beta Cassiopeiae, or "Caph" an Arab title meaning
"the Hand," was also known to the Arabs as "the Camel's
Hump." It is one of the so-called "Three Guides," three
stars that mark the equinoctial colure, one of the great
circles passing through the poles of the heavens.
Caph is one of the stars for which a parallax has been
found. It is approximately twenty light years from our
system, though some authorities say thirty-two light years.
Gamma Cassiopeiae, the second magnitude star in the
girdle of the "lady in the chair," has a companion of the
nth magnitude 2" distant. The Chinese called this star
"a whip." It is a star of great interest to astronomers, as
it was the first star discovered to contain bright lines in
its spectrum. This discovery was made by Secchi in
1886. The spectrum is peculiarly variable.
Delta Cassiopeiae bears the Arab name "Ruchbah,"
meaning "the Knee." It was utilised, says Allen, by
Picard in France in 1669 in determining latitudes during
his measure of an arc of the meridian, the first use of the
telescope for geodetic purposes.
Theta and Mu Cassiopeia were known to the Arabs as
"Al-Marfik," meaning "the Elbow." The star Mu is
interesting because of its great proper motion. This is
given as 3.7 seconds per year, a velocity in space of one
hundred miles a second. It has been estimated that in
3,000,000 years this star will circle the heavens. It is
said to be thirty light years distant.
Eta Cassiopeias is a double star, and one of the finest
objects in the sky for a moderate sized telescope. It is
probably the nearest star to us of any in the constellation,
although authorities differ as to its parallax. This is given
130 Star Lore of All Ages
as thirteen, twenty-one, and seventeen light years. The
weight of authority seems to favour the latter estimate.*
No account of the stars in the constellation Cassiopeia
would be complete without a reference to the wonderful
temporary star that flashed out in this region of the sky in
November, 1572, astonishing the world. It was visible in
fxill daylight, and said to be brighter than the planet
Venus. It has been long known as "Tycho's Star," and
many conclude from this that it was discovered by the
celebrated astronomer Tycho Brahe, but as a matter of
fact it was discovered by Schuler, at Wittenberg in
Prussia, who saw the star faintly Aug. 6, 1572. Tycho
Brahe saw it at its brightest Nov. nth of the same year,
and in 1602 published an account of the star. Other
names for this star are "Stranger or Pilgrim Star," "Star
in the Chayre," and "New Venus." The Chinese called
it "the Guest Star," and Beza thought it was a comet, or
the same luminous appearance that guided the Magi, the
so-called "Star of Bethlehem."
In March, 1574, the star disappeared entirely. D'Arrest
found a minute star of the lo-iith magnitude near this
place in 1865 where Argelander could formerly see none.
There is some idea that a bright star appeared in this place
in the years 945 and 1264 a.d. If so says Webb, ^ we may
possibly witness a repetition of this incomprehensible
phenomenon.
La Place says: "As to those stars which suddenly shine
forth with a very vivid light, and then immediately disap-
pear, it is extremely probable that great conflagrations,
produced by extraordinary causes, take place on their
surface. This conjecture is confirmed by their change of
colour, which is analogous to that presented to us on the
' Newcomb writes that /3, -n, and (*■ Cassiopeiag have so great a proper
motion in so nearly the same direction that it is difficult to avoid at
least a suspicion of some relation between them.
' Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, by Rev. T. W. Webb.
Cassiopeia, the Lady in the Chair 131
earth by those bodies which are set on fire and then grad-
ually extinguished."
Dr. Good thus refers to temporary stars: "Worlds and
systems of worlds are not only perpetually creating, but
also perpetually disappearing. It is an extraordinary fact,
that within the period of the last century, not less than
thirteen stars, in different constellations, seem to have
totally perished and ten new ones to have been created.
"In many instances it is unquestionable that the stars
themselves, the supposed habitation of other kinds or
orders of intelligent beings, together with the different
planets by which it is probable they were surrounded,
have utterly vanished, and the spots which they occupied
in the heavens have become blanks."
Bturitt thus describes the changes in colour observed in
Tycho's star: "At first appearance it was of a dazzling
white, then of a reddish yellow, and lastly of an ashy
paleness in which its light expired." "It is impossible,"
says Mrs. Somerville, "to imagine anything more tre-
mendous than a conflagration that could be visible at such a
distance." The collision theory seems the best one to ac-
count for such phenomena, but the imagination and senses
alike fail in any attempt at a realisation of the heat gener-
ated by the impact, or the magnitude of the ensuing
conflagration.
Cepheus
The King
133
2
ODeneb
« in
Cygnus
•(Var.) Doubte
o
Alderaniln
ErRai
Draco \
1
CEPHEUS
CEPHEUS
THE KING
Cepheus himself just behind Cynosura
Stands like one spreading both his arms abroad.
Aratos.
Although one of the most inconspicuous constellations,
Cepheus has attracted attention from the beginning of re-
corded history. It seems in a measure appropriate that
Cepheus should be a dim constellation, for in the thrilling
story of the rescue of Andromeda by the champion Per-
seus, Cepheus, the King, played but a subordinate part.
Plunket gives 3500 B.C. and 23 degrees north latitude as
the approximate date and location of the people who in-
vented this constellation. Allen says that Achilles Tatios,
probably of our 5th century, claimed that Cepheus was
known in Chaldea twenty-three centuries before our era,
while according to Brown all of the circumpolar constella-
tions originated on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
Cepheus is generally conceded to have been King of
i^^thiopia, the Euphratean "Cush," the husband of Cas-
siopeia, and the father of Andromeda. There is a differ-
ence of opinion as to what language the names Cepheus
and Cassiopeia are derived from. Some writers have sug-
gested for their origin the Sanscrit names "Capuja."
which was the later Hindu name for Cepheus, and "Cas-
syape." Cepheus has also been identified with Cheops or
Khufu the builder of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and,
again, was supposed to be descended from lasion, the son
of Zeus and Electra.
Cepheus and the constellations of the group with
135
136 Star Lore of All Ages
which he is generally associated are known as "the Royal
Family." They also comprise the so-called circumpolar
constellations, and in these latitudes never set. They are
especially noteworthy as illustrating the ancient legend
of Perseus and Andromeda, one of the best known of all
the classic myths and one that has survived all ages. It
shows clearly that there was an effort made on the part of
the inventor of these constellations to depict here on the
imperishable scroll of heaven a drama that shoiild survive
all time. There is another such example, which we will
come to later, of a like intent to connect a series of constel-
lations, so that the stories that individually relate to each
should in toto portray a complete history. It is as if each
constellation was but an instalment of a serial story.
This seems fairly good proof that some of the constella-
tions, at least, were carefully thought out by one man,
that design and not chance was responsible for their crea-
tion, and that the legends they represented antedated the
invention of the several star groups.
Cepheus also figures as one of the Argonauts, the valiant
band of heroes that sailed in the ship Argo in quest of the
golden fleece, and was changed into a constellation at his
death. Newton claims that all the ancient constellations
relate in some way to this famous expedition. He argues
that "as Musasus, one of the Argonauts, was the first
Greek who made a celestial sphere, he would naturally
delineate on it those figures which had some reference
to the expedition. Accordingly, we have on our globes
to this day, 'the Golden Ram' (Aries), the ensign of the
ship in wliich Phryxus fled to Colchis, the scene of the
Argonautic achievements. We have also the Bull (Tau-
rus) with brazen hoofs tamed by Jason ; the Twins (Gemini)
Castor and Pollux ; two sailors with their mother Leda in the
form of a Swan (Cygnus) ; and Argo, the ship itself. The
watchful Dragon (Draco) Hydra, with the Cup (Crater) of
Medea, and a raven (Corvus) upon its carcass, as an em-
blem of death; also Chiron (Sagittarius), the master of
Cepheus, the King 137
Jason, with his 'Altar' and sacrifice. Herctiles, the Argo-
naut, with his club, his dart (Sagitta), and vulture, with the
Dragon, Crab (Cancer), and Lion (Leo) which he slew;
and Orpheus, one of the company, with his harp (Lyra).
Again we have Orion, the son of Neptune, or as some say
the grandson of Minos, with his dogs (Canis Major and
Minor), and the Hare (Lepus), River (Eridanus), and
Scorpion. We have the story of Perseus, in the constel-
lation of that name, as well as in Cassiopeia, Cepheus, An-
dromeda, and Cetus ; that of Callisto and her son Areas in
Ursa Major; that of Icarius and his daughter Erigone in
Bootes and Virgo. Ursa Minor relates to one of the nurses
of Jupiter, Auriga to Erichthonius, Ophiuchus to Phorbas,
Sagittarius to Crolus, the son of one of the Muses, Capri-
corn to Pan, and Aquarius to Ganymede. We have also
Ariadne's crown (Corona Borealis), Bellerophon's horse
(Pegasus), Neptune's dolphin (Delphinus), Ganymede's
eagle (Aquila), Jupiter's goat with her kids, the asses of
Bacchus (in Cancer), the fishes of Venus and Cupid
(Pisces), with their parent the Southern Fish." These,
according to Deltoton, comprise the Grecian constel-
lations mentioned by the poet Aratos, and all relate,
as Newton supposes, remotely or immediately to the
Argonauts.
There is every reason to believe, however, that the con-
stellations were invented long before the date of this
famous expedition.
Allen tells us that in China, the Inner Throne of the Five
Emperors was located somewhere in this constellation.
One of the Chinese Emperors, it is said, ordered a group
of stars in Cepheus to be called "Tsau-fu" after his fa-
vourite charioteer.
Cepheus had for the Arabs a pastoral significance. In
fact in the Euphratean star list Cepheus signified "nu-
merous flock." The stars in the vicinity of the North Pole
were supposed to represent a shepherd attended by his
dog, watching a herd of sheep at pasture. Goats, calves,
138 Star Lore of All Ages
and camels also figure in the picture. These animals are
all in the neighbourhood of Cepheus,
It is useless of course for us to try to see this picture as
it appeared to those night watchers of the far East. Situ-
ated in an ideal region for star-gazing as regards climatic
conditions, in a land where the nights were glorious with
stars and where the people spent most of the nocturnal
hours on the house tops or out on the hills, gifted with a
wonderfully fertile imagination, it was but natural that
they should adore the stars, the mystery of which appealed
to their superstitious natures, and exalt their heroes to the
starry skies. As they were deeply interested in the care
of herds and flocks we naturally find that certain star
groups represented to them pastoral scenes. These stellar
pictures of the ancients are interesting as showing the
changes wrought by the advance of progress and civilisa-
tion, and there must indeed have been a fascination in
painting pictures on the widespread canvas of the night
with a brush steeped in the bright-hued pigments of
imagination.
Smyth alluded to the constellation Cepheus as "the
Dog," and a ring of stars in this group was known to the
Arabs as "a Pot."
Dr. Seiss claimed that Capheus represented the coming
of the Redeemer as King, while Cassius and Julius Schil-
ler wished to substitute King Solomon and Saint Stephen
for the time-honoured personage.
The Cepheid meteor shower of the 28th of June radiates
from a point near y Cephei, and the star {x Cephei is worth
observing as being Sir William Herschel's celebrated
"Garnet Star," one of the reddest stars in the sky, and a
fine object in an opera-glass.
Surrounding the stars 8, e, 1^, and X Cephei, which mark
the head of the King, is a vacant gap in the Milky Way,
one of the so-called "Coal Sacks," where no stars have been
observed even in our most powerful telescopes.
Cepheus furnishes a good example of the fact that it is
Cepheus, the King 139
not always among the brightest constellations that the
most interesting objects are found.
Its three brightest stars, a, §, and y Cephei, gain a cer-
tain interest when it is known that by reason of the pre-
cession of the equinoxes these stars will one after the other
take the place of the Pole Star of ages to come.
In 4500 A.D. Y Cephei will be Polaris. In 6000 a.d. ^
Cephei succeeds to the title, and 1500 years later a Cephei
marks the Pole of the heavens. Only the last will be as
near the true Pole as our present Pole star is now.
P Cephei is a beautiful double star, a fine object in a
small telescope, and when observing it interest is added by
the thought that the primary is also double, although too
close to be seen visually, that wonderful instrument the
spectroscope revealing its duplicity. This spectroscopic
binary has an exceedingly rapid revolution, a complete
circuit of the orbit taking less than five hours, which is
the most rapid orbital revolution so far known.
The stars ^ and x Cephei are also fine doubles for a small
telescope. For the naked eye observer there is situated in
this constellation an object of great interest, the variable
star S Cephei, a typical example of a certain class of vari-
able stars of short period, which are now called the Cepheid
variables. Its changes in brightness are perfectly regular
and it is an accurate time-keeper, successive maxima fol-
lowing one another at intervals of 5 days, 8 hours, 47 min-
utes, and 39 seconds. Unlike the so-called Algol variables
its light changes are continuous without any period when
the brightness is constant. The remarkable behaviour
of this star fiimishes one of the most puzzling problems of
astro-physics. S Cephei is easily visible to the naked eye
and any one can watch these interesting variations in its
magnitude. The range is from 3.7 to 4.9.
a, ^, and y Cephei were known respectively by the Arab
names "Alderamin," meaning the "right arm," "Alfirk,"
"a flock," and "Errai," the "shepherd."
Cetus
The Whale
141
The
Great Squar<
of Pegasus
O Algenib
7
Menkar
Eridanus
CETUS
THE WHALE
With gills pulmonic breathes the enormous whale,
And spouts aquatic columns to the gale; *
Sports on the shining wave at noontide hours,
And shifting rainbows crest the rising showers.
Darwin.
Though Aratos and others connect the Whale with the
story of Perseus and Andromeda, there is little doubt that
the constellation antedates the time of Perseus.
In earlier times it seems to have been regarded as some
kind of leviathan, without connection with the story of the
sacrifice of Andromeda. Allen suggests that it may have
represented the ferocious Tiamat of the Chaldean myths.
In all delineations it has been a strange and fierce marine
creature, unlike any known to man, and totally unlike
the figure of a whale.
According to Pliny and Solinus, after the monster's en-
counter with Perseus, in which it suffered from the petri-
fying gaze of the Medusa, its bones were brought to Rome
by Scaurus. Saint Jerome corroborated this story, claim-
ing to have seen the bones of the monster at Tyre.
Brown tells us that Cetus signified "the chaos of the
deep" to the Babylonians. It represented primarily the
state of chaos "when the earth was waste and wild and
darkness was upon the face of the deep." Aratos called it
"the dusky monster."
Cetus is sometimes represented as swimming in the
river Eridanus, or river Po, the celestial stream into which
the venturesome Phaeton was hurled by the bolts of Jove.
143
144 Star Lore of All Ages
Burritt depicts the creature with the two front paws im-
mersed in the River, and the constellation lies between this
great stream and the flood which pours forth from the jar
of the Water Bearer into the gaping mouth of the Southern
Fish. Cetus is thus situated appropriately in that region
of the sky known to the ancients as " the Sea," alluded to in
a previous chapter, a part of the sky where marine symbols
abound.
It has been suggested that these constellations, which
might well be designated "the marine group," arranged
here together, might have reference to the rainy season, or
a period of flood when the sun was in this region of the
heavens.
Brown points out the interesting fact that the southern
heavens are generally given over to creatures of ill sig-
nificance. Here we find Hydra, Scorpius, Lupus, Corvus,
Canis Major, and Cetus. Design rather than chance seems
evident in this arrangement.
In the 17th century Cetus was considered to be a symbol
of Jonah's whale, and also of Job's leviathan. Dr. Seiss
regards it as the old Seipent, which is the Devil and Satan.
A popular name for this constellation is "the Easy
Chair," as the arrangement of its stars suggests to the
imaginative a reclining chair. A mutilated hand is also
seen by some in the star group forming the head of the
creature. The five stars in the head of the whale, a, y, ^,
[JL, and X, form a fairly regular pentagon, which serves as a
ready means of identifying the constellation.
The arrangement of the stars in Cetus permits of many
geometrical figures being formed. The stars l^, 0, x, t), and
t Ceti form an inverted dipper, a little larger but other-
wise not unlike the so-called "Milk Dipper" in the con-
stellation Sagittarius.
The body of the creature is kite-shaped, and the entire
constellation somewhat resembles the figure of the pre-
historic ichthyosaurus.
Although Cetus is the largest constellation, it contains
Cetus, the Whale 145
few telescopic objects of interest. The south pole of the
Milky Way is located within its borders, and the constella-
tion "is a condensation point of nebulae, directly across the
sphere from Virgo, also noted in this respect."
Alpha Ceti is no longer the lucida of the constellation,
as its Greek-letter name would indicate, for it is inferior
in brightness to Beta. One or both of these stars have
therefore changed in the course of time. Alpha is well
worth observing as a fine combination of a beautiful 2.5
magnitude orange-coloured star with a 5.5 magnitude star
of a decided bluish tint. The Arab name for Alpha is
"Menkar," meaning "the nose." X Ceti also bears this
name, and as it is situated exactly in the nose of the crea-
ture it seems more appropriately named than Alpha. As-
trologically Menkar denoted sickness, disgrace, and ill
fortune, with danger from great beasts.
^ Ceti was known to the Arabs as " Diphda" or " Deneb
Kaitos." Diphda signifies "the Frog," and this star was
called "the Second Frog," the first one being represented
by the star Fomalhaut situated in the mouth of the
Southern Fish. The name "Deneb Kaitos" means "the
Tail of the Whale toward the South." In China this star
bore the strange title of "Superintendent of Earthworks."
No account of the constellation Cetus would be complete
without a reference to the wonderful variable star Mira, or
Omicron Ceti as it is generally called by astronomers. His-
torically it is the most interesting of all the variable stars
of long period, and it bears the distinction of being the first
star whose variability was discovered.
D. Fabricius observed it early on the morning of the
1 2th of August, 1596, as somewhat brighter than a Arie-
tis. In October it had disappeared. He observed it again
in February and March, 1609. Holwarda observed it in
1638, and recognised its periodical variability.
According to Argelander's calculations its period is
33 1 H days, but it is very irregular, and the difference of
period is sometimes as much as twenty-five days. Its
146 Star Lore of All Ages
magnitude at maximum also varies greatly. At times it
vies with stars of the second magnitude, and often it only
attains a brilliance of the fifth magnitude. At minimum
it is generally of the ninth magnitude, only a thousandth
part of its greatest brilliance, and one twentieth as bright
as the faintest stars visible to the naked eye.
Mira is of a deep red colour and gives an interesting
spectnmi. Espin points out a similarity between the
spectrum of Mira and the celebrated Nova Aurigse.
Herschel notes an observation of Omicron Ceti on the 6th
of November, 1779, when this wonderful star equalled
Aldebaran in brightness.
The amateur astronomer with a telescope of 3' aperture
or better can observe very well all the changes in light
that take place in this remarkable star. Change seems
to bespeak life, and hence the observance of variable stars
must ever prove a source of fascination and wonder to those
who make a study of them, for they, of all the seeming life-
less orbs that gaze so steadfastly on the centuries, exhibit
inherent qualities that distinguish them in the firmament as
man is distinguished on earth.
For three centuries this star has been under observa-
tion and as yet shows no sign of relaxation.
No satisfactory theory has yet been found to account
for all the variations in the light of these long-period vari-
ables. It has been suggested that the irregularities are
caused by the phases of some general law, like the law of
the maxima and minima of sun spot activity.
T Ceti is one of our nearest neighbours in space, its dis-
tance being estimated as nine light years.
Corona Borealis
The Northern Crown
147
TDraeo
Benetnasch
in <
Ursa Major
QjVegra
^^ in
Lyra
Head
a <^
Vt4
CORONA
BOREALIS
"o Seglnna
6 Eas AlgetlU
f\ Has Alliacuc
f^ ..V^""
,' O^
, • vNuaakan <s
y The Head
■ « of the
--^ Serpent
P
p- — t}
(3 Arcturus
CORONA BOREALIS
2v Spi
(J 11
Vlr
Theseus Slaying the Minotaur
Statue at Villa Albani
CORONA BOREALIS
THE NORTHERN CROWN
There too that Crown which Bacchus set on high,
A brilliant sign of the lost Ariadne.
Aratos.
This conspicuous and beautiful constellation is said to
commemorate the crown presented by Bacchus to Ariadne,
the daughter of Minos, second King of Crete. The legend
relates that Theseus, King of Athens (1235 B.C.), was shut
up in the celebrated labyrinth of Crete to be devoured by
the ferocious Minotaur, which was confined in that place-
This creature was accustomed to feed upon the chosen
young men and maidens exacted from the Athenians as
a yearly tribute to the tyranny of Minos. Theseus
attacked and slew the wicked monster, and being furnished
with a clue of thread by Ariadne, who was passionately
devoted to him, he extricated himself from the diflScult
windings of the labyrinth. He afterwards married the
beautiful Ariadne, and carried her away to the island of
Naxos, where sad to relate he deserted her.
Ariadne was so disconsolate at this treatment, that some
say she hanged herself, but Plutarch takes a more cheerful
view, and claims that she lived many years after and was
espoused to Bacchus, who loved her with much tender-
ness and gave her a crown of seven stars, which after her
death was placed among the stars. Thus the constella-
tion is often called "Ariadne's Crown."
Spenser however thinks that Theseus was the donor of
the crown. In his Faerie Queen he says:
149
150 Star Lore of All Ages
Look: how the crowne which Ariadne wore
Upon her yvory forehead . . .
Being now placed in the firmament,
Through the bright heavens doth her beams display.
And is unto the starres an ornament,
Which round about her move in order excellent.
ApoUonius Rhodius thus refers to the Crown in his
Tale of the Argonauts as early as the third century B.C.
Still her sign is seen in heaven,
And midst the glittering symbols of the sky
The starry crown of Ariadne glides.
Brown claims that the crown was bestowed by the sun-
god Dionysos on his consort Ariadne (the very chaste
one) on the occasion of his nuptials in the island of Naxos.
We therefore have otir choice as to who bestowed the
crown on Ariadne — Bacchus, Theseus, or Dionysos.
Allen tells us that Pherecydes, in the fifth centtu-y be-
fore Christ, was the first to record this legend of Ariadne's
Crown, and the constellation is without doubt one of great
antiquity. It is one of the few that resemble in the
arrangement of stars relative to each other the subject
supposed to be represented. The stars are arranged in a
semi-circle, and outline a perfect crown, so that this
group is easily identified, and because of its beauty is
better known than many of the constellations.
This constellation has also been regarded as "the Coiled
Hair of Ariadne," a reduplication of the asterism Coma
Berenices or Berenice's Hair.
One of the most peculiar features of the arrangement of
the stars into constellations by the ancients is the fact
that many of the figvu-es are repeated, and in almost every
case the two constellations similar in figure are situated
dose together in the sky. Thus we find two Dogs, two
Lions, two Bears, two Birds, two Giants (Hercules and
Ophiuchus), two Fishes, two Crowns (the northern and
southern), two Centaurs, and now as we have seen above
The Minotaur
Painting by George Frederick Watts
The Northern Crown 151
there seem to have been two constellations that repre-
sented maiden's tresses, only separated by the constella-
tion Bootes.
This fact of reduplication seems to corrobrate the evi-
dence that there was a deliberate plan exercised in the
designing of the constellations, for there were many ani-
mals known to the ancients that are not given a place in
the stellar menagerie. There must have been some very
good and sufficient reason for duplicating so many of the
star groups.
The Northern Crown has also borne the following titles :
"The Wreath of Flowers," "Diadema Coeli " "Oculus,"
meaning any celestial luminary, and "Maera," signifjang
the "shining one."
The fact that the stars forming the Crown do not form a
complete circle has caused it to appear other than crown-
like to various peoples. Thus it is said to resemble a Beg-
gar's Dish with a nic'ked rim, such as is held out by the
beggar to receive alms.
The Australian natives called this constellation "wom-
era," our boomerang, the arrangement of the stars sug-
gesting that weapon to their minds.
The Shawnee Indians of our own country called this con-
stellation "the Celestial Sisters," and have an interesting
legend respecting it, which is a typical example of the im-
aginative power possessed alike by the red men of North
America, and the far-off nomadic tribes of the ancient
world. The legend is as follows: "White Hawk, a mighty
hunter, was searching for game. He suddenly found him-
self on the outskirts of a great prairie, where he perceived
a circular path worn through the grass with no path leading
to it. While he stood wondering at the strange pathway,
he saw descending from the heavens a silver basket con-
taining twelve beautiful maidens. As the basket touched
the ground they alighted and began dancing about the ring,
beating time on a silver ball. White Hawk endeavoured
to capture the most beautiful of the maidens, but they all
152 Star Lore of All Ages
leaped into the basket which was instantly carried up into
the sky. The next day White Hawk revisited the spot dis-
guised as a rabbit, and tried in vain to seize one of the
dancers. The day following in the guise of a mouse he was
more successful, and succeeded in catching the most be-
witching maiden, and took her home as his bride. She
soon became homesick, however, and one day when White
Hawk was absent she made a silver basket, and singing her
magic chant was carried to the heavens, where she appears
now as one of the bright stars near the Crown, the star
Arcturus in the constellation Bootes."
The Indians also imagined that this star-traced circle
represented a council of Chiefs, and the star in the centre
of the circle was the servant, cooking over the fire, pre-
paring the feast.
Manilius in the first book of his Astronomicon thus
speaks of the Crown :
Near to Bootes the bright Crown is viewed,
And shines with stars of different magnitude.
Corona Borealis was known to the Hebrews by the name
of "Ataroth," and by this name the constellation is called
in the East to this day.
Caesius said that this Crown represented the one that
Ahasuerus placed upon Esther's head, or the golden crown
of the Ammonite Kling, of a talent's weight. He also
likened it to the Crown of Thorns worn by the Christ.
This constellation is especially interesting as marking
the region of the sky where the most celebrated temporary
star of recent years appeared. It was observed 58' south
of the star Epsilon, on the 12th of May, 1866, as a second
magnitude star, and was visible for eight days. The star
then slowly declined to the tenth magnitude and rose later
to the eighth. Now it appears a pale yellow, and is known
as T Coronas. It is sHghtly variable. This was the first
temporary star to be studied by the spectroscope.
The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha, a
4^
'3 lU
tn
O
o o
o -^
pq ^
The Northern Crown 153
star of 2.4 magnitude. It was known to the Arabs as
'"Alphecca," which means the "bright one of the dish,"
referring to the resemblance of the constellation to a
broken plate mentioned above. This star is also called
"Gemma," and "the Pearl of the Crown," a title which
Allen says has been occasionally transformed into Saint
Marguerite.
Gemma is receding from our system at the rate of about
twenty miles a second. Manilius thus refers to it:
One placed in front above the rest displays
A vigorous light and darts surprising rays.
This shone since Theseus first his faith betray'd.
The monument of the forsaken maid.
This star marks the radiant point of the Coronids, a
meteor shower visible from April 12th to June 30th. It
culminates at 9 p.m., June 28th.
The Northern Crown contains the exceedingly interest-
ing variable star lettered "R," which has been called
"Variabilis Coronas." It was discovered by Pigott in
1795 and varies with much irregtilarity from 5.8 to the 13th
magnitude. There are only two other variables known to
be of this type. To give an idea of the rapid changes of
light in this star, it is interesting to note that on Sept. 21,
1910, its magnitude was 6.5, Oct. 17th it had declined to a
9.6 magnitude star, and by Nov. 2d it was only a dim star
of the I2th magnitude.
The Greek word ^cc^tzt is the mnemonic word given
by Young to assist the memory in locating the stars in this
constellation, the stars in the Crown bearing in sequence
these Greek-letter names.
M
a
C
a
a
«
o
i-j
w
ft;
3
S
s
'a
.2
o
<
IS
Corvus
The Crow
155
V ITf 8°
3
3
3 o
-« i-
/
1 ./
f^ Spica
^ in
Virgo
• 8 Algorab
Qienah
Crater
>
CORVUS
CORVUS
THE CROW
The figure of a crow seems pecking at him.
Aratos, referring to Hydra.
On most of the ancient star maps, the Crow is generally
depicted as perched on the coils of the great water snake
Hydra, and apparently "pecking at him," as the poet
puts it.
The ancient Akkadians, according to some authorities,
seem to have regarded this constellation as representing
a horse, but nearly all the other ancient nations saw in this
group of stars a bird.
With the Chinese it was "the Red Bird," the last con-
stellation in their zodiac. The Romans and Hebrews called
this constellation "the Raven," the name it was known by
in Chaucer's time, and Brown tells us that in the valley of
the Euphrates there was a connection between Tiamat,
the Serpent of Night, and the Demon Ravens. It was
known there as "the Great Storm Bird," "the Bird of the
Desert," "the Bird of the Great Seed," and "Storm Wind."
It is said that the crow was once of the purest white, but
was changed to his present sable hue for talebearing.
Thus is the fact immortalised in verse:
The raven once in snowy plumes was drest,
White as the whitest dove's unsullied breast,
Fair as the guardian of the capitol,
Soft as the swan, a large and lovely fowl;
His tongue, his prating tongue, had changed him quite,
To sooty blackness from the purest white.
According to the Greek fable, the crow was made a
157
158 Star Lore of All Ages
constellation by Apollo. This god being jealous of Coronis
(whom he loved) , the daughter of Phlegyas, and mother of
i^isculapius (who is represented in the skies by the figure of
the giant Ophiuchus), sent a crow to watch her behaviour.
The bird perceived her criminal partiality for Ischys, the
Thessalian, and immediately acquainted Apollo with the
fact, which so fired his indignation that:
His silver bow and feather'd shafts he took,
And lodged an arrow in her tender breast,
Tliat had so often to his own been prest.
To reward the crow he placed it among the constella-
tions, but just why it was located on the back of the Hydra
does not appear.
It is a curious fact that we find elsewhere among the con-
stellations birds closely associated with other figures. Thus
the Crane is shown as pecking at the Southern Fish. The
Pleiades or Doves flock together on the back of the fero-
cious Bull, and ancient Chinese maps depict the Eagle on
the Dolphin's back. Design clearly enters into these
grotesque arrangements.
Some say that this constellation takes its name from
the daughter of Coronaeus, King of Phocis, who was
transformed into a crow by Minerva, to rescue the maid
from the pursuit of Neptune.
' AUen gives the following classical legend respecting
Corvus : It appears that the bird being sent by a god with a
cup for water, loitered at a fig tree till the fruit became ripe,
and then returned to the god with a water snake in his
claws, and a lie in his mouth, alleging the snake to have been
the cause of his delay. In punishment he was for ever fixed
in the sky with the Cup and the Snake, and, we may infer,
doomed to everlasting thirst by the guardianship of the
Hydra over the Cup and its contents. Hence the constel-
lation has been called "Avis Ficarius," the "Fig Bird,"
and "Emansor," one who stays beyond his time. There
Corvus, the Crow 159
is a belief in early folk-lore that the crow alone among
birds does not carry water to its young.
Corvus, Crater, and Hydra are generally associated to-
gether in the ancient myths and legends. Swartz, early
in the 19th century, endeavoured to prove that the con-
stellations were nothing but a sort of symbolical geo-
graphy of the west shore of the Caspian Sea. He imagined
that these three constellations represented strangely
enough the petroleum wells of Baku. The long extended
Serpent, with its coils and folds, represented to him the
slow, oily flow of crude petroleum. The Cup is placed
there to indicate the receptacle or reservoir for the oil, and
the Crow is indicative of the inky blackness of the colour
of the oil.
Dr. Seiss regards the Crow as the Bird of Doom, and it
has been likened to Noah's Raven flying over the waste of
waters, or alighting on Hydra, as there was no dry land for a
resting place.
This association of the Crow with the bird that went
forth from the Ark connects this constellation with several
others that many authorities believe form a graphic ac-
count of the Deluge, and, just as in the Perseus and An-
dromeda group we seem to find a serial story, here is
depicted in a like group the story of the Flood.
It certainly seems plausible that primitive man should
have sought to record the greatest and most important
events known to him for the benefit of posterity, and it may
have occurred to some ancient patriarch, and possibly
Noah, to inscribe his record on the enduring scroll of night,
and burn the legend deep with the fire of the silver stars.
At any rate, there is a significant arrangement of con-
stellations in this region of the heavens, that requires little
imagination to convey a fairly good record of the Deluge
story, as we have it in Genesis.
Here we have the Ship (the Ark), Argo, stranded upon a
rock. Two birds hover near-by, the Raven and the Dove,
the birds sent forth by Noah. We have a sacrifice offered
i6o Star Lore of All Ages
up by a person who has gone forth from the Ark, the Cen-
taur, and we see in the sky the Altar, and smoke arising
from it represented by the Milky Way. Curiously enough
we also find a Bow set in a cloud, not the rainbow, but the
Bow of the Archer, set in the Milky Way, the cloud of
smoke. This connection of Sagittarius with the group of
Deluge pictures may seem a bit far fetched, but even
without it the picture of the Flood and the story in Genesis
are well borne out in the constellations, and we find in
this group the best of evidence that they were combined
and placed here as a record for all time.
In addition to the constellations named as belonging
to this group, Aquarius and Eridanus have been said to
represent the Deluge, and Pisces and Cetus, the fishes and
whale swimming in the "deep waters."
In Genesis, as Maunder points out, Noah is represented
as a man. In the constellation picture, he who issues forth
from the Ship is a Centaur, one who partook of two natures.
There is certainly a significance in these figures of the Cen-
taurs. They were a very ancient people, regardless of the
fact whether such creatures ever existed, or whether, as
has been supposed, they were people who tamed horses,
and appearing on horseback, an uncommon sight, resembled
at a distance a figure half man, half horse.
The significance of these figures in the heavens lies in
the fact that the inventor of the constellations was familiar
with the figure of a horse, which we find depicted in Pegasus
and the distinct figure of the ancient Centaur, half man,
half horse.
Corvus was known to the Arabs as "the Camel," and
" the Tent." It forms the nth Hindu lunar station, known
as "Hasta," meaning the "Hand." Schickard thought
Corvus represented Elias's Crow.
The Arabs called Alpha Corvi "Al-Chiba," which was
also the Desert title for the constellation. Ulugh Beg
and other Arabian astronomers called it "the Raven's
Beak."
Corvus, the Crow i6i
Delta Corvi, called by the Arabs "Algorab," is a beau-
tiful double star, a fine object for a small telescope,
the colour contrast, yellow and purple, being especially
pronounced.
Crater
The Cup
163
Ckjrvus
T
Hydr
CRATER
CRATER
THE CUP
Midway
His volume is the Cup.
Aratos, referring to Hydra.
Closely identified with Corvus is the constellation
Crater, the Cup, an inconspicuous group of stars bounding
Corvus on the west. An imaginary line, drawn through the
brighter stars in Crater, traces out a bowl-shaped figure,
whence its fancied resemblance to a Cup, the title the con-
stellation has borne from time immemorial.
In the old atlases, the Cup is usually represented in the
form of a large urn elaborately ornamented, with two
handles set opposite each other and rising above the rim
of the bowl, resting insecurely on the coils of the great sea
serpent Hydra.
This was the cup fabled to belong to Bacchus, and Ma-
nilius thus refers to it;
the generous Bowl
Of Bacchus flows and cheers the thirsty Pole.
The original connection of Crater and Corvus is with
Hydra, the storm and ocean monster. Crater was the
S3nnibol of the vatilt of heaven, wherein at times storm
winds, clouds, and rain were chaotically mixed, while
Corvus, as we have seen, was known as ' ' the Great Storm
Bird."
Omar in the following familiar lines employs the simile
respecting Crater and the dome of heaven :
And that inverted Bowl they call the sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die.
165
1 66 Star Lore of All Ages
Earlier in the Ruhdiydt we find the Cup and the Bird
mentioned in one quatrain :
Come fill the Cup and in the fire of Spring
Your winter garments of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter — and the Bird is on the wing.
It is possible that no astronomical significance was in-
tended here by this reference to the Bird and Cup, as the
Bird is clearly Time and not the Raven, but the Bird and
Cup were so closely identified in the astronomical lore of
the Orient, that the Persian poet may well have considered
the simile more fitting than would at first appear. It is
certainly a curious coincidence.
Allen tells us that in the early Greek days Crater re-
presented the xavOapog or "Goblet of Apollo," which
universally was called xpaiYjp. The Greeks also called
the Cup xiXxT], a "cinerary urn," and ''^^^ioL, a "water
bucket."
One Greek legend connected Crater (the Mixing Bowl)
with the Cup of Icarius, to whom Bacchus gave the wine,
and who was translated to the sky as the constellation
Bootes. Another, originating in Asia Minor, connected
the Cup with the mixing of human blood with wine in a
bowl.
In China the constellation figured strangely enough as a
dog.
In the Euphratean star list, Crater is called "the Bowl
of the Snake." Other names for it are the Cup of
Herakles, of Achilles, of Dido, of Medea.
No allusions to this constellation have as yet been
found in the excavated relics of ancient Egypt, although
Allen informs us that there is an ancient vase in the War-
wick collection on which is the following inscription:
Wise ancients knew when Crater rose to sight,
Nile's fertile deluge had attained its height.
Photo by Brogi
Medea
National Museum, Naples
Crater, the Cup 167
There certainly would seem to be a significance attached
to Crater in Egyptian star lore, as Hydra, so intimately
connected with Crater, has been regarded as the inhabitant
of the Nile, and in fact its representative. In all probabil-
ity, evidence connecting this constellation with Egyptian
astronomy will come to light in the near future, as the work
of excavation is rapidly going on in that rich land of
buried treasure.
In early Arabia this constellation was known as "the
Stall," a figure much resembling the Manger in the con-
stellation Cancer. Hewitt connects the Cup with the Soma
Cup of prehistoric India. It has also been identified
with the cup that Joseph found in Benjamin's sack, with
Noah's wine cup, and the cup of Christ's Passion. Dr.
Seiss regarded it as the Cup of Wrath of the Revelations. '
The constellation contains no stars of special interest.
Inasmuch as Crater was regarded in ancient times as
the symbol of the vault of heaven, it may be well to remark
here an interesting fact, often lost sight of, concerning
the stars in their relation to our planet, which a recent
writer has pointed out.
To the individual, the heavens resemble nothing so much
as "the inverted Bowl" of which Omar sings, with its
rim resting on the hills, and other irregtdar surface fea-
tures that limit our view of the horizon, but it is obvious that
the sky is much more extended, as it covers half the earth,
and is not bounded by the individual's horizon.
Therefore, when we look at the stars, some of them are
twinkling above the billows of the mighty oceans, the At-
lantic, the Pacific, the Indian. Others look down on the
lofty Andes, with their snow peaks, and pierce the gloom
of the tropical forest in the valley of the Amazon. Still
other suns glitter above the bergs and field ice of the frozen
polar seas, on scenes of frigid desolation, and some of the
* Early Christians believed that the constellations Corvus and Crater
represented the Ark of the Covenant.
i68 Star Lore of All Ages
stars we nightly gaze upon are mingling their beams with
the arc lights of oiir great and populous cities.
"Every point in the sky is directly above some point on
the earth, and as is the proportion of a given area to the
whole sky, so is the proportion of the area it overhangs to
the whole surface of the earth," Thus the Pleiades, the
famous cluster in Taurus, cover a space about equal to
Westchester Coimty, N. Y.
Cygnus
The Swan
or
The Northern Cross
169
•30
•$
CYGNUS
2 mo
New Star 5 a
•e
o 1 Over
W^ Head
.'Ljfra
Albireo
O Enif
e in
Pegasus
Delpliinus A
\. Sagitta
Q Altait
o Aquila
CYGNUS
CYGNUS
THE SWAN
OR
THE NORTHERN CROSS
Thee, silver Swan, who silent, can o'erpass ?
A hundred with seven radiant stars compose.
The graceful form: amid the lucid stream
Of the fair Milky Way.
EUDOSIA.
There are few constellations in the firmament that ex-
ceed in beauty and interest the star group popularly known
as "the Northern Cross." Shrouded in the glory of the
Galaxy, rich in telescopic objects of exquisite beauty,
famed in fable and song, this constellation possesses a
charm that is enduring, a fascination for all students of
the stars and lovers of the beautiful.
There are various legends to account for the presence of
the Swan in the starry skies. One relates that the Swan
represents Orpheus the wonderful musician, who won the
beautiful Eurydice for his bride. Foully slain by the cruel
priestess of Bacchus, Orpheus was changed into a swan and
transported to the heavens, where he was placed near his
beloved Harp (the constellation Lyra), possibly to add his
mite to the sweet music of the spheres.
Others suppose it to be the swan into which Jupiter
transformed himself when he deceived Leda, wife of
Tyndarus, King of Sparta.
Again we are told that the Swan was Cicnus or Cycnus
(and this is believed to be the proper name for the constella-
tion), a son of Neptune, who was invulnerable to attack
171
172 Star Lore of All Ages
from blows or missiles. Achilles after striving in vain to
wound Cicnus finally succeeded in smothering him. As
he was about to rob his victim of his armour, Cicnus was
suddenly changed into a swan.
According to Ovid, the constellation took its name from'
Cygnus, a relative of Phaeton's, who deeply lamented the
untimely fate of that youth, who was hurled into the river
Eridanus after his disastrous ride. The legend relates
that after Phaeton had disappeared beneath the waters of
the river, Cygnus frequently plunged into the stream to
seek him. The gods in wrath changed him into a swan,
and therefore it is that the swan ever sails about in the
most pensive manner, and frequently thrusts its head be-
neath the water.
Virgil in the loth Book of his Mneid thus alludes to this
fable:
For Cicnus loved unhappy Phaeton,
And sung his loss in poplar groves alone,
Beneath the sister shades to soothe his grief.
Heaven heard his song and hastened his relief,
And changed to snowy plumes his hoary hair,
And winged his flight to sing aloft in air.
Allen tells us that this constellation may have originated
on the Euphrates, for the tablets show a stellar bird of
some kind. At all events the present figure did not origin-
ate with the Greeks, for the history of the constellation had
been entirely lost to them.
In Arabia Cygnus was called "the Flying Eagle," and
"the Hen," appearing under the latter title about 300 B.C.
in Egypt.
Cygnus is generally represented in full flight along the
Milky Way.
Yonder goes Cygnus the Swan, flying southward.
On some old maps the bird is apparently just rising from
the ground. Aratos describes the Swan:
As one that floats on well poised wings.
Photo by Annan
Orpheus and Eurydice
Painting by George Frederick Watts
Cygnus, the Swan or Northern Cross 173
In the Euphratean star list this constellation bears the
title of "Bird of the Forest."
Before the time of Eratosthenes (the third century b.c.)
the name of the star group among the Greeks was simply
"the Bird."
This portion of the sky seems to abound with birds, —
as if they hovered over the region of the heavens known to
the ancients as " the Sea." Here we find besides the Swan,
Aquila the Eagle, the flying Eagle, and Lyra, which was re-
garded as the falling or swooping Eagle.
Sayce states that the Assyrian name of the Swan is
supposed to be "Tussu," while Houghton has been unable
to discover any Hebrew, Assyrian, or Phoenician nam®
for the constellation.
The brightest stars in Cygnus form the so-called " North-
ern Cross," a perfect and beautiful figure, which Lowell thus
alludes to in his poem, "New Year's Eve, 1844" :
and countless splendours more
Crowned by the blazing Cross high hung o'er all.
The Cross is formed by the stars a, y, t), ^ Cygni, marking
the upright along the Milky Way, more than twenty de-
grees in length, and X,, s, y, S Cygni, forming the transverse.
The early Christians regarded this figure as the Cross of
Calvary, as did Schiller. The Northern Cross is certainly
much more perfect in form than the famed Southern Cross,
and setting in the west, when it assumes an upright position,
it presents a beautiful appearance.
Christmas eve at nine o'clock, this brilliant cross of
stars stands upright on the western hills, outlined against
the sky as if beckoning all beholders onward and upward.
A beautiful symbol of the Christian faith, glorious, per-
fect, and eternal, and especially significant at this season
of the year.
Between a, y, and e Cygni is one of the vacant spaces
in the Milky Way, a black and seemingly bottomless abyss,
the brink over which man peers into the profound and
174 Star Lore of All Ages
mysterious depths of interstellar space. This wonderful
region in the sky is known as "the Northern Coal Sack."
Cygnus is celebrated as containing the nearest lucid
star in the northern hemisphere, a 5.6 magnitude star,
barely visible to the naked eye, known as "61 Cygni."
It. is a double star, both being golden yellow in colour,
situated six degrees north and east of the star e Cygni.
Bessel, in 1838, calculated its distance as approximately
six light years, — a light year being the distance light travels
in a year at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. 61 Cygni
bears the distinction of being the first star whose distance
was measured. If the distance from the earth to the sun
equals one inch, the distance from the earth to 61 Cygni
would equal seven and one half miles. This gives one a
good idea of star distances, which to all intents and purposes
are beyond our comprehension. To illustrate the amount
of labour bestowed by astronomers on the problem of the
determination of star distances, it may be mentioned that
for the photographic measure of the star 61 Cygni, 330
separate plates were taken in the year 1886-7. On these,
thirty thousand measurements were made. The result
agreed closely with the best previous determination by
Sir Robt. Ball, using the micrometer.
The lucida of the constellation is Alpha Cygni, called
by the Arabs "Deneb," meaning the "Hen's Tail." It
is a brilliant white 1.4 magnitude star, comparatively
young, and in the same spectroscopic class as Spica and
Vega. The spectroscope reveals that Deneb is approach-
ing the earth at the rate of thirty miles a second. From
the best determinations Deneb is at least ten times as far
off as Vega. The distance of Vega is thus expressed:
Supposing the sun's distance from the earth (93,000,000
miles) equals one foot, Vega is 158 miles distant. This
puts Deneb at a reasonably safe distance from us. '
' Deneb is also in Newcomb's "XM" class of stars, embracing the
stars that are thousands or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of
times brighter than the sun.
Cygnus, the Swan or Northern Cross 175
Deneb can be seen at some time between sunset and
midnight every night in the year in these latitudes. Mrs.
Martin pays it this charming tribute: "Deiieb is par-
ticularly attractive in the early evening in January and Feb-
ruary. It is then rather low in the north-west and with
Vega gone, and no other bright star very near, it has a
more commanding charm. In the heavier atmosphere
which induces a more rapid twinkling, the star seems to take
on an accession of gaiety, and goes fairly dancing down be-
hind the horizon, where it finishes its circle and appears
again in the north-east about four hours later."
Deneb culminates at 9 p.m., Sept. i6th.
Cygnus is a splendid field for telescopes, great and small.
Its chief object of beauty is the incomparably beautiful
double star. Beta Cygni, also known as " Albireo," situated
in the base of the Cross and in the beak of the Swan. Even
in a small telescope the contrast in the colours of these two
close set stars is well emphasised, and the sight of these suns,
the one gold, the other blue, never fails to charm all who
view them. As this double is easily split by small telescopes,
Albireo is a great favourite with all amateur astronomers.
Cygnus contains many deeply coloured red and orange
stars, and Birmingham called this part of the heavens "the
Red Region," or "the Red Region of Cygnus."
Espin gives a list of one hundred stars in this constellation
that are double, triple, or multiple.
The 2.7 magnitude star y Cygni was called "Sadr" by
the Arabs, meaning the "Hen's Breast." Allen says, "it
lies in the midst of a beautiful stream of small stars, it-
self being involved in a diffused nebulosity extending to
a Cygni, while the space from y to § Cygni is perhaps richer
than any of similar extent in the heavens." In this space,
according to Herschel, the stars in the Milky Way seem to
be clustering into two separate divisions, each division con-
taining more than 165,000 stars. So rich is this region of
the heavens in stars, that Herschel counted 331,000 in a
width of only five degrees.
176 Star Lore of All Ages
In the neck of the Swan, not far from Beta Cygni, is the
variable star x Cygni, discovered by Kirch in 1686, rang-
ing from magnitudes 4.5 to 13.5 in 406 days. Sometimes
at its maximum it reaches only the sixth magnitude, thus
presenting a problem v/hich is one of the most interest-
ing in all the realm of astrophysics.
Delphinus
The Dolphin
177
..^■A
o-"'
\
Cygnus
\
\
\
\
-
\
o
\
o
Vulpecular
Albireo
and
Anser
o
DELPHINU8
4 4
Eotanen ^-j— •^Scalovln
Deneb
Sagltta
■^^^
</
P
1./
PAltair
in
Aquila
DELPHINUS
DELPHINUS
THE DOLPHIN
The Dolphin small to sight floats o'er the Goat.
Aratos.
This interesting little constellation lies in that region
of the sky already alluded to as "the Sea," and near-by are
the other maritime creatures, the Fishes, the Sea Goat,
and the Whale.
In Ptolemy's catalogue Delphinus only contained ten
stars; Burritt gives it eighteen, Argelander twenty, Heis
thirty-one, — ^none brighter than the third magnitude.
Allen thinks that the constellation originally may have in-
cluded the stars set off by Hipparchus to form the asterism
Equtileus.
In all astronomical literature, Delphinus has borne its
present title and shape, but just why the Dolphin should
be represented by these stars is not clear.
A favourite title for the constellation was "Vector
Arionis," from the Greek fable which Burritt thus relates:
"The Dolphin was made a constellation by Neptune, be-
cause one of these beautiftd fishes had persuaded the god-
dess Amphitrite, who had made a vow of perpetual celibacy,
to become the wife of that deity; — but others maintain that
it is the dolphin which preserved the famous lyric poet and
musician Arion, who was a native of Lesbos, an island in
the Archipelago. Arion went to Italy with Periander,
tyrant of Corinth, where he obtained immense riches by
his profession. Wishing to revisit his native cotmtry, the
sailors of the ship in which he embarked resolved to murder
him, and get possession of his wealth. Seeing them im-
179
i8o Star Lore of All Ages
movable in their resolution, Arion begged permission to
play a tune upon his lute before he should be put to death.
The melody of the instrument attracted a number of dol-
phins around the ship. He immediately precipitated him-
self into the sea, when one of them, it is asserted, carried
him safe on his back to Tsenarus, a promontory of La-
conia, in Peloponnesus, whence he hastened to the court
of Periander, who ordered all the sailors to be crucified at
their return."
But (past belief) a dolphin's arched back
Preserved Arion from his destined wrack;
Secure he sits and with harmonious strains
Requites his bearer for his friendly pains.
Spenser pa^'-s the following tribute to the friendly dol-
phins :
"Then was there heard a most celestial sound
Of dainty music which did next ensue,
And, on the floating waters as enthroned,
Arion with his harp unto him drew
The ears and hearts of all that goodly crew ;
Even when as yet the dolphin which him bore
Through the ^gean seas from pirates' view,
Stood still, by him astonished at his lore ;
And all the raging seas for joy forgot to roar.
The dolphin is also said to have performed a friendly
service in the cause of Justice. Hesiod, the famous poet,
having been slain and his body cast into the sea, the
dolphins recovered the body and conveyed it to the shore.
Here it was found by his friends, who hunted down the
assassins aided by the poet's dogs, and put them to death
by drowning in the sea into which they had thrown Hesiod.
A curious coincidence is revealed by this legend, for here
we find the dolphin identified with the preservation of a
corpse, and the constellation is popularly known as "Job's
Coffin." There can hardly be any connection between
these similar allusions, as in all probability the title " Job's
Photo by Brogi
Cupid and Dolphin
National Museum, Naples
Delphinus, the Dolphin i8i
Coflfin" was applied long after the constellation was known
as "the Dolphin."
Allen says that he has been unable to learn the date and
name of the inventor of the title "Job's Cofl&n." The stars
in the constellation form a rectangular figure not unlike
the shape of a coffin, which possibly accounts for the title.
We find the dolphin acting as a life-saver again in the
rescue of Taras, the founder of Tarentum, in Italy, from a
watery grave. The inhabitants of that city struck a coin
in memory of this event.
Delphinus marked the 24th Hindu lunar station, known
as " Most famous." In Greece Delphinus was the Sacred
Fish, the creature being of as much reHgious significance
there as the fish afterwards became among the early Christ-
ians. The Dolphin was also regarded as the messenger and
favourite of Poseidon, and the sky emblem of philanthropy.
The Arabs called this constellation "the Riding Camel,"
and the early Christians are said to have believed that this
star group represented the Cross of Jesus, transferred to
the sky.
The dolphin has also been regarded as the fish which
swallowed Jonah, although this title, properly speaking,
should apply to Cetus the Whale. Schiller knew some of
the stars in Delphinus as "the water pots of Cana." The
Chinese called the four principal stars in that constellation,
which form a diamond-shaped figure, "a gourd."
Delphinus in astrology was believed to have a special
influence over the births and character of human beings.
It has been thought that this constellation was invented
by a seafaring people, and this, with the neighbouring
star groups, is evidence that the constellations were in all
probability designed by dwellers on the coast.
Some regard the dolphin as one of the many animals
worshipped in connection with Apollo. Again it is said to
be the symbol of- spring, and the opening of the season of
navigation, and others claim that the title is derived from
the name Delphi, as the festival known as "the Delphinia"
i82 Star Lore of All Ages
was celebrated in May, and commemorated "the genial
influence of the spring sun on the waters, in opening navi-
gation, and in restoring life to the creatures of the wave,
especially to the dolphins which were highly esteemed by
the superstitious seafaring fishermen, merchants, etc." ^
The star names "Sualocin" and "Rotanev," applied to
a and ^ Delphini, are interesting as presenting a mystery
for many years. Webb finally discovered that reversing
the spelling gave "Nicolaus Venator," the Latinised name
of the assistant to the astronomer Piazzi, who is thus im-
mortalised in starland.
The star y Delphini is a fine double star for a small tele-
scope, the colours gold and bluish green being in marked
contrast, and very beautiful.
e Delphini was known to the Chinese by the unattrac-
tive title "the Rotten Melon," certainly a singular and
inappropriate name for any star.
Delphinus, in spite of the fact that it is one of the small-
est constellations, is one of the best known, and its popular
title, "Job's Coffin," has a wider vogue than the great
majority of the constellation names.
' The star and dolphin combined appear on a coin of the ancient
people of Apulia who inhabited Italy before the time of the Romans.
Draco
The Dragon
183
The heel of
Hercnlee
o
y
<y
HMtaban q 3
4 a% »EltaiUn
AlBalds*
The Polnten
DRACO
DRACO
THE DRAGON
Here the vast Dragon twines
Between the Bears and like a river winds.
Warton's Virgil.
There is no doubt that Draco dates from the earliest
times, as Eudoxus and Aratos both mention this constella-
tion, and many believe that it represents the crooked
serpent of Job xxvi., 13.
Of all creatures the serpent is historically the most inter-
esting. It is referred to in myth and legend more often
than any other, and connected as it is with the very story of
Eden, it is linked with the earliest history of man as no other
creature is. That it should have found a place amid the
constellations is a matter of course, but it seems strange
that a creature abhorred instinctively by men of all ages
should have been so highly esteemed by the inventors of
the constellations as to have been placed by them at the
very throne of the heavens.
Burritt says: "Whoever attends to the situation of
Draco, surrounding as it does the pole of the ecliptic, will
perceive that its tortuous windings are symbolical of the
oblique course of the stars. Draco also winds around the
pole of the world as if to indicate in the symbolical lan-
guage of Egyptian astronomy the motion of the pole of the
equator around the pole of the ecliptic produced by the
precession of the heavens,"
In all probability, the twelve signs of the zodiac were the
first star groups to be mapped out. The northern stars
185
i86 Star Lore of All Ages
next claimed attention, and according to Irving,' out of
these stars was traced a great winged dragon which was
supposed to guard the pole of the heavens. In after years
the precession of the equinoxes forced the creature off the
pole, and he was said to have been overcome by the stalwart
Michael, and thrown into a bottomless pit. One writer
says: " His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
and did cast them to the earth. "
The Egyptian hieroglyph for the heavens was a serpent
whose scales denoted the stars. When astronomy first
began to be cultivated in Chaldea, Draco was the polar
constellation.
"It is not known just why this constellation got its fear-
some S)mibol," says Maimder; "the dragon or snake was
amongst all ancient nations used to symbolise the powers
of evil or darkness or of chaos, but this gives us no explana-
tion why a constellation far from being the least beautiful
and conspicuous has been chosen to convey the idea of
darkness, still less why such a symbol should have been
planted at the very crown of the celestial sphere."
To the early Chaldeans the body of Draco was probably
much larger than is now conceded. It surrounded both
Bears, and extended downward and in front of Ursa Major.
The Babylonians regarded Draco as a monster personify-
ing primeval chaos — a monster that was finally overcome
by a great wind, which was driven with such force into his
open jaws that it split him in two.
Brown claims that this constellation is Phoenician in
origin, and represents primarily the old serpent, the
tempter of Eve in the Garden. Dr. Seiss takes this view
of it also.
Mythological accoimts of Draco vary considerably. By
some this serpent is the guardian of the stars (the golden
apples) which hang from the Pole tree in the Garden of
Darkness, or Garden in the West, the Garden of Hesperides,
near Mount Atlas in Africa.
' How to know the heavens by Edward Irving.
Photo by Anderson
Minerva
Vatican Museum, Rome
Draco, the Dragon 187
In north temperate latitudes this constellation never
sets, and the Greeks therefore saw in it an emblem of eternal
vigilance, symbolised by this Dragon of the Garden, guard-
ing the precious fruit. Juno, it is said, presented these
golden apples to Jupiter on the day of their nuptials, and
rewarded Draco for his faithful services by placing him
among the stars. The legend relates that the serpent
was slain by Hercules, and in the old maps Hercules is
represented as crushing the head of the Dragon under his
foot.
Others claim that this was the snake snatched by Min-
erva from the giants, and whirled to the sky before it had
a chance to uncoil, and that thus twisted it sleeps to-day
in the heavens aroimd the axes of the world.
According to another story this is the dragon killed by
Cadmus, who was ordered by his father to go in quest of
his sister Europa, whom Jupiter had carried away, and
never to return to Phoenicia without her. Cadmus having
slain the dragon, sowed its teeth and reaped a crop of
armed men, who presently engaged in mortal combat from
which five only stirvived. These assisted Cadmus to build
the city of Bceotia.
There is an allusion to the Dragon in connection with the
familiar story of Phaeton and his desperate adventure with
the steeds of day: "When Phaeton rode the chariot of
the Sim, the horses rushed headlong. Then for the first
time the Great and Little Bears were scorched with heat
and would fain if it were possible have plunged into the
water, and the serpent (Draco) which coils around the
North Pole, torpid and harmless, grew warm, and with
warmth felt his rage revive."
In Egypt the Dragon was called "Typhon." Plutarch
tells us that the hippopotamus, or its variant the crocodile,
was certainly one of the forms of Typhon. On the plani-
sphere of Denderah, and the walls of the Ramesseum at
Thebes, these animals appear in the circtmipolar region,
and show clearly that they owe their position to the old
1 88 Star Lore of All Ages
myth that the rising sun destroys the circumpolar stars;
and Horus, the great god, the light of the heavens, is repre-
sented as destroying the hippopotamus or crocodile or
Draco. The same idea has come down to us in the well-
known myth of St. George and the Dragon.
In Greece Draco was called "Pytho"; in India "Kalli
Nagu, " meaning the banishment of Vishnu. In Anglo-
Saxon chronicles he is referred to as "the fire drake," "the
denier of God," "the unsleeping poison-fanged monster,"
and " the terrible enemy of man full of subtility and power. "
"The Dragon wing of night overspreads the earth" is an
expression which shows the effect of imagination when
aroused by the story of such monsters.
There seems to have been a special effort on the part
of the originators of the constellations, at the outset almost,
to symbolise by a star group the presence of the Evil One,
ever watchful, ever vigilant, gazing down upon mortals
from the high heavens, as a perpetual menace to evil-doers
and a continual reminder of original sin.
The constellations Draco and Hercules are closely asso-
ciated in ancient mythology, and Hercules is always repre-
sented as trampling the Dragon underfoot. These two
constellations are in turn connected with Ophiuchus and
Serpens, the figure of another giant overcoming a serpent,
while he crushes the Scorpion under his feet. On the old
maps the figures of these two famous giants appear head to
head.
These similar and striking groups, placed so close to-
gether in the sky, show clearly that there was a deliberate
intention on the part of the inventors of the constellations
to emphasise the great fact of a struggle between mankind
and serpentkind. There seems here an evident reference
to God's interview with the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and be-
tween thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel."
There can be little doubt that in these star groups we
Draco, the Dragon 189
have evidence of the very earliest attempts of man to en-
grave a record of history and tradition for all humanity
to read, and that in the history of these constellations
lies the key to many of the mooted religious questions of
the day.
The Arabs knew Draco as "Al-Tinnin," and "Al-
Thuban," and had names for all the brighter stars in the
constellation, many of which represented to their imagina-
tion goats or camels. The Egyptians, it is said, also called
Draco "Tanen" at one time. This name is still retained
by the star y Draconis.
The dragon was the national emblem of China, but,
strange to say, the Dragon of the Chinese zodiac was among
the stars composing the constellation Libra. According to
Edkins, "the Palace of the Heavenly Emperor" is bounded
by the oval formed by the fifteen stars in Draco, amongst
which is the star "Tai-yi," the ancient Pole Star, twenty-
two degrees ^rom the present Pole.
Schiller thought Draco represented the Innocents, other
early Christians saw here the Dragon Infernal.
There are several stars in this constellation that are note-
worthy, a Draconis, called by the Arabs "Thuban" and
" Al-Tinnin," was in the year 2790 B.C., or thereabouts, the
Pole Star, and the whole constellation then swung around
it as on a pivot. Hence it was known in China as "the
Right Hand Pivot. "
The change in the position of the Pole Star is of such
interest, that a slight reference to the reason for it is worth
noting. The north celestial Pole is slowly moving in a
small circle whose centre is the north Pole of the ecliptic,
that great circle which the sun, moon, and planets traverse.
This motion causes what is known as "the Precession of
the Equinoxes," by which they travel slowly westward,
completing an entire revolution in 25,900 years. This
motion also causes in time a change in the Pole Star, so
that even as Thuban once was, and Polaris now is, so
Vega in 13,000 years will mark the Pole.
190 Star Lore of All Ages
The importance of the star Alpha Draconis to the an-
cients is evidenced by the many titles bestowed on it, a
few of which are here given: "Judge of Heaven," "High
Horned One," " Proclaimer of Light, " "High One of the
Enclosure of Life," "The Favourable Judge," "Life of
Heaven," "the Prosperous Judge, " "Crown of Heaven."
Seamen regarded it as the Dragon's tail, and Al-Tizini
called it "the Male Hyena."
The Great Pyramid was oriented to Thuban, the Hght
from which shone down its central passage in the year
2170 B.C.
According to Maunder, Thuban marked the Pole at
the time the constellations were mapped out, a prominence
it must have held for over two thousand years. At that
time this star must have seemed to all ordinary obser-
vation an absolutely fixed centre round which all the other
stars revolved, just as Polaris appears to us now. It was
however much closer to the true Pole of the heavens than
Polaris is at the present time.
Thuban is a 3.6 magnitude star, pale yellow in colour.
Herschel claimed that it was formerly a much brighter
star than now. With Bayer it was a second magnitude
star, and he assigned to it the first letter of the Greek
alphabet. It culminates at 9 p.m., June 7th.
Y Draconis, called by the Arabs " Eltanin," the " Dragon's
head, " vies with Thuban in interest, and has been a notable
and much observed star in all ages. It was an object of
temple worship in early Egypt, where it was called "Isis."
The central passages of the temples of Hathor at Denderah,
and that of Thut at Thebes, were oriented to it, the former
about 3500 B.C. Long afterwards it served for the orient-
ation of the great temple at Kamak. According to Lockyer,
seven other temples were oriented to it, and he considers
that the Egyptian goddesses Apet, Mut, Taurt, and Sekhet
were the same goddesses under different names, and sym-
bolised the star y Draconis.'
» Referring to the matter of orientation Serviss writes: "There is
Draco, the Dragon 191
Dr. Hooke observed Eltanin with his telescope in the
daytime in 1669, but its chief interest lies in the fact that
the observation of it led Bradley in 1725 to discover the
laws of the aberration of light.
Allen cites the following interesting facts respecting
Eltanin: The Boeotian Thebes, the city of the dragon,
from the story of its founder Cadmus, shared with its
Egyptian namesake the worship of this star in a temple
dedicated about 11 30 B.C. Eltanin lies almost exactly
in the zenith of Greenwich, and hence it has been called
"the zenith star." It has been observed at Greenwich
for more than two hundred years.
V Draconis is an interesting double star, separable with a
field-glass of high power, the distance of the components
being almost exactly one minute of arc.
The remaining stars in the constellation are of no special
interest though their many titles are evidence of the great
importance of this constellation to the ancients.
something magnificent in this thought of the ancient temple-builders
to square their work by the stars, and to construct long rows of
sphinxes and majestic columns to conduct a ray from the sky to the
eye of the god in his dark and hidden chamber, where no impious foot
dared follow."
Eridanus
The River Po
13 193
Tauru«
O
\ The Hea<{^
\ Cetxis
• • Ol
{The Sceptre
of
BrandenbuTsr
ERIDANUS
ERIDANUS
THE RIVER PO
The scorched waters of Eridanus' tear-swoUen flood
Welling beneath the left foot of Orion.
Aratos.
According to Eratosthenes this imaginary river of the
stars, winding its devious way across the winter skies, repre-
sented the River Nile, and in the Alphonsine Tables it
bore the title "Nilus." Brown, however, claims that the
Akkadians identified it with the River Euphrates, and
that the name "Eridanus" may refer to a Turanian river
name meaning "Strong River. "
In the Euphratean records there are many allusions to
a stellar stream that may refer to this imaginary river,
although there is a possibility that the Milky Way is in-
tended, as that always represented a celestial river to the
ancients.
Bvirritt tells us that Eridanus is the name of a celebrated
river in Cisalpine Gaul, also called "Padus," the modem
" Po. " Virgil calls it " the King of Rivers, " and the Latin
poets have rendered it famous from its connection with
the fable of Phaeton, the intrepid youth who endeavoured
to drive for a day the chariot of the sun. As the familiar
story goes, he was unable to restrain the fiery steeds, and
a universal catastrophe was only prevented by a timely
thunderbolt from the hand of Jupiter, which hurled
Phaeton from heaven into the River Eridanus.
At once from life and from the chariot driven,
The ambitious boy fell thunderstruck from heaven.
195
196 Star Lore of All Ages
His body, consumed with fire, was found by the nymphs
of the place, who honoured him with a decent biirial. His
sisters, the Heliades, mourned his unhappy end, and were
changed by Jupiter into poplars, the trees that are found
in great abundance in the valley of the Po.
All the long night their mournful watch they keep,
And all the day stand round the tomb and weep.
Ovid.
It is said that the tears of the Heliades were turned to
amber. ApoUonius represented the Argonauts as passing
along the banks of the River Eridanus in their voyage from
Ister to the Rhone, and as hearing the lament of the Heli-
ades, and seeing their amber tears.
Amber was imported into Greece from the northern
shores of the Adriatic, and it was naturally identified with
the River Po, the great river of northern Italy.
It is also related that when Hercules went on his quest
of the golden apples of Hesperides, he came to the River
Eridanus, and enquired his way of the nymphs dwelling
near-by.
Burritt thinks that the fable of Phaeton alludes to some
extraordinary period of drought and heat which was ex-
perienced in a very remote time, and of which only this
confused tradition has descended to later times.
The constellation Eridanus is so extended that it has been
divided, for the sake of convenience, into a northern and
southern stream. The former has its source near the first
magnitude star Rigel, in the foot of Orion, and hence
Eridanus has been sometimes called "the River of Orion."
Maunder considers that if we regard Eridanus as repre-
senting the Flood, and the sacrifice of Andromeda a means
to cause its abatement, then Eridanus would stand for the
Great Deep of the Primeval Chaos, of which the sea mon-
sters typified the indwelling principle.
The Arab name for this constellation was "Al-Nahr,"
meaning the River, and the Arabs also imagined that the
o
a
<
Q '5
Eridanus, the River Po 197
stars in this group represented ostriches, young and old,
eggs, and egg-shells.
"The River Jordan," "the Red Sea," and "the River
of the Judge" are other names for this famous stream, and
it has been identified with Homer's stream flowing around
the earth, and sometimes bore the titles "Oceanus," and
"the River of Ocean."
^ Eridani, called by the Arabs "Cursa," signifying a
footstool, is the principal star in the constellation seen in
these latitudes. It owes its name to its position close to
the foot of the Giant Hunter Orion. The Chinese called
this star "the Golden Well," and it was regarded by the
Arabs as an ostrich nest, a number of which are scattered
through the constellation.
The star y Eridani was called by the Arabs "Zamack,"
meaning the "bright star of the boat." This would seem
to infer that some sort of a craft was supposed to traverse
the stream, and might be an allusion to the Ark, if the
stream was originally intended to represent the Flood, as
many authorities think.
We have, then, in the constellation Eridanus the diverse
representations of a river on which there is a boat, and a
gathering place for ostriches, with their nests, eggs, and
egg-shells in evidence. This confusion of stellar imagery
is one of the features of constellational study, and is at
first blush difficult to account for. It seems reasonable to
suppose, however, that the art of stellar representation was
not confined to any one country, or a particular tribe, and
as the nomadic herdsmen travelled from place to place, they
left in each a smattering of the star lore that was as much
a part of their lives as a knowledge of flocks and herds.
As they would in all likelihood see in the star groups what-
ever their individual fancy dictated, a diversity of repre-
sentations would naturally follow, which accounts in part
for the confusion of figures that a close study of the con-
stellations reveals.
Eridanus is an inconspicuous constellation, but on a
198 Star Lore of All Ages
clear night in midwinter, when the moon is absent from
the sky, the stream can be traced without difficulty, spread-
ing out like a great horseshoe south and west of the well-
known constellation Orion.
Gemini
The Twins
199
^anis Miner
1
Monoceros
Betelgrenze In Orton m/
GEMINI
GEMINI
THE TWINS
And starry Gemini hang like growing crowns,
Over Orion's grave low down in the west.
Tennyson's Maud.
The ancient Chaldeans, and eastern nations generally,
knew nothing of the zodiacal sign we call Gemini, or the
Twins, although these stars have always been regarded as
twins from remote antiquity.
Instead of twin brothers, however, the ancients imagined
these stars represented two Kids. There was a significance
in this title quite apart from its relation to the herds that
they were daily concerned with.
We see in this region of the sky three ancient and im-
portant constellations named after domestic animals that
figured prominently in the pastoral life of early times,
the Ram, the Bull, and the Kids. Pluche tells us that "in
the reproduction of species among the herds familiar to
primitive man, the first produced in the vernal season are
the lambs, then come the calves, and later the kids, so that
it was natural that the ancients who devised the constel-
lations should characterise in this order the three constella-
tions through which the sun passed in the vernal season."
Brown considers that the constellations were designed
to perpetuate the stories in which the ancients dramatised
their conception of solar and lunar relations. He holds
that Gemini is a stellar representation of the great Twin
Brethren of the sky, the stm and the moon, who join in
building a mysterious city. Although hostile to each other,
they work together, and are only seen together by day.
202 Star Lore of All Ages
In that interesting book by Maunder, entitled The
Astronomy of the Bible, we are told that on the Babylonian
monuments and boundary stones, the most ancient records
extant, there appears a set of symbols repeated over and
over again, and always given a position of prominence.
It is the so-called "Triad of Stars," a crescent lying on its
back and two stars near it.
The significance of this symbol is now clear. Four
thousand years before the Christian era, the two stars
Castor and Pollux, a and ^ Geminorum respectively,
served as indicators of the first new moon of the year, just
as the star Capella did two thousand years later. The
"Triad of Stars" then is simply a picture of what men saw
year after year in the sunset sky, at the beginning of the
first month 6000 years ago. It is the earliest record of an
astronomical event that has come down to us.
Plunket says that the early astronomers who mapped
out the zodiac, noticing that the equinoctial colure in 6000
B.C. passed the two bright stars Castor and Pollux, chose
to represent them as marking the heads of twin figures,
which they determined should symbolise the equal day
and night of the season over which they presided.
Thousands of years after these two stars had ceased to
mark the equinox, they were still associated by the Greeks
with the twin heroes Castor and Pollux, brothers, who
according to the legend were "possessed of an immortality
of existence so divided among them that as one dies the
other revives. "
The learned Dr. Barrett has pointed out that this fur-
nishes a complete description of day and night, a simile
that is especially interesting if we attribute the first sym-
bolising of day and night by these stars to the work of
astronomers at a date when the days and nights these stars
symbolised were exactly of equal length, and when there-
fore the equally bright stars and equal alternations of
light and darkness might both be fitly symbolised as twins.
The Latin title " Gemini" b}^ which we know the constel-
Photo by Anderson
Temple of Castor and Pollux at Rome
Gemini, the Twins 203
lation dates only from classical times. Burritt gives
the following mythological history of the constellation:
" Castor and Pollux were twin brothers, sons of Jupiter, by
Leda, the wife of Tyndarus, King of Sparta. They were
educated at Pallena, and afterwards embarked with Jason
in the celebrated contest for the golden fleece at Colchis,
on which occasion they behaved with unparalleled
courage.
PoUiix distinguished himself by his achievements in arms
and personal prowess, and was a famous pugilist. Castor
was superior in equestrian exercises, and the management
of horses. The Twins are represented in the temples of
Greece, on white horses, armed with spears, riding side by
side."
Among the ancients, and particularly among the Romans,
there prevailed a superstition that Castor and Pollux often
appeared at the head of their armies, and led on their
troops to battle and victory.
The gods who live for ever
Have fought for Rome to-day,
These be the great Twin Brethren
To whom the Dorians pray.
Back comes the chief in triumph
Who, in the hour of fight,
Hath seen the great Twin Brethren
In harness on his right.
Macaulay.
Castor and Pollux were a common object of adjuration
among the Romans, and the slang of the present day, "By
Jiminy," is a survival of the old Roman oath. As guard-
ians of Rome the Twins were inscribed on the Roman silver
coins. The "Pence" of the good Samaritan bore their
figtires, where they were represented as two horsemen.
They also appear on coin types of as early date as from 431
to 370 B.C.
Virgil thus writes concerning these illustrious Twins:
204 Star Lore of All Ao^es
i5
Castor and Pollux first in martial force,
One bold on foot, and one renowned for horse.
And Martial in like vein:
Castor alert to tame the foaming steed
And Pollux strong to deal the manly deed.
After rettiming from Colchis the brothers waged a success-
ful war against the pirates who infested the Hellespont,
from which circumstance they have ever since been re-
garded as " the sailor's stars, " and the friends and protectors
of navigation. It is related that Neptune had rewarded
their brotherly love by giving them power over wind and
wave, that they might assist the shipwrecked.
Safe comes the ship to Haven
Through billows and through gales,
If once the great Twin Brethren
Set shining on the sails.
Macaulay.
In the Argonautic expedition, during a violent storm,
it is said two flames of fire, "St. Elmo," or "St. Helen's
light, " were seen to play around the heads of Castor and
Pollux, and immediately the tempest ceased, and the sea
was calm. In honour of the Twins, these lights were some-
times known as "Ledean lights," and sailors believed that
whenever both fires appeared in the sky, it would be fair
weather, but when only one appeared, there would be
storms.
In the Odes of Horace, Mr. Gladstone's translation, we
read:
So Leda's twins, bright shining, at their beck
Oft have delivered stricken barks from wreck.
Homer in his Hymn to Castor and Pollux thus alludes
to their supposed influence over the sea:
Photo by Brogi
Temple of Castor and Pollux at Girgenti
Gemini, the Twins 205
These are the Powers who earth-bom mortals save
And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave
When wintry tempests o'er the savage sea
Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly
Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow,
Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow.
And sacrifice with snow-white lambs, the wind
And the huge billow bursting close behind.
Even then beneath the weltering waters bear
The staggering ship — they suddenly appear,
On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky,
And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity.
And strew the waves on the white ocean's bed,
Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread
The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight.
And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.
Shelley's translation.
The appearance of the Twins, Castor and Pollux, was
hailed as the harbinger of fair summer weather, and they
were sjmibolised by the figure of two stars over a ship.
In the Acts of the Apostles we read that St. Paul sailed
from Malta to Syracuse in an Alexandrian ship whose sign
was Castor and Pollux, and among the Romans it was very
common to place the effigies of the Twins in the prows
of vessels.
Castor and Pollux became enamoured of the betrothed
daughters of Leucippus, brother of Tyndarus, and resolved
to supplant their rivals. A battle ensued, in which Castor
killed Lynceus, and was himself killed by Idas. Pollux there-
upon killed Idas, but being himself immortal, and most
tenderly attached to his brother, he was unwilling to sur-
vive him. He therefore besought Jupiter to restore Castor
to life. Jupiter granted his request, and made Castor im-
mortal. Consequently as long as one was upon earth, so
long was the other detained in the infernal regions, and
they thus alternately lived and died every day. As Homer
puts it :
By turns they visit this etherial sky,
And live alternate and alternate die.
2o6 Star Lore of All Ages
This idea bears out the alternation of daylight and dark-
ness, and the analogy between the days and nights of equal
duration before mentioned.
Jupiter further rewarded their fraternal attachment
by changing them both into a constellation, under the
name of "Gemini," the Twins, which it is strangely pre-
tended never appear together, but when one rises the other
sets, and so on alternately.
Castor and Pollux were worshipped both by the Greeks
and Romans, who sacrificed white lambs upon their altars
to them. In the Hebrew zodiac the constellation of the
Twins refers to the tribe of Benjamin; and according to
Dr. Seiss, the Gemini represented the mystic vmion of
Christ and His redeemed. Schiller regarded the constel-
lation as representing St. James the Elder.
The Egyptians represented the Twins as the two gods,
Horus, the Elder, and the Younger, and strangely enough
also regarded them as Two Sprouting Plants.
The Gemini have also been called "David and Jona-
than," "Adam and Eve," "the Twin Sons of Rebecca,"
Jacob and Esau. The Eskimos recognise in Castor
and Pollux the two door-stones of an igloo, the name for
their snow huts. The Arabs regarded these twin stars
as two Peacocks, and on the Euphratean star list they
appear as "the Great Twins," and "the Heaven and Earth
Pair."
Allen tells us that in India they always were prominent
as "the Aswins," or "Horsemen," a name also found in
other parts of the sky for other Hindu twin deities. A
Buddhist zodiac had in their place a woman holding a
golden cord. Castor and Pollux were regarded as twins
by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and the aborigines of the
South Pacific Islands.
In Australia they were called "the Young Men." The
South African Bushmen on the contrary called them
"the Young Women, the wives of the eland," their great
antelope.
Gemini, the Twins 207
There appear on the Peruvian star chart of Salcamayhua
two figures that resemble the Gemini, and one of the sym-
bols for the Twins was a Pile of Bricks, referring to the
building of the first city.
Astrologically considered, this constellation was most
favourably regarded, portending genius, goodness, and
liberality. It is of the House of Mercury and its native
will be tall and straight, with dark eyes, brown hair, and
active ways; in character versatile, contradictory, and
unselfish. It governs the arms and shoulders and rules
over the south-west parts of England, America, Flanders,
and Lombardy. It is the ruling sign for those bom be-
tween May 20th and June 21st. The flower is the May-
flower or trailing arbutus, and the gem, the beryl.
In the early Chinese solar zodiac this constellation figured
as "the Ape,'' and the Chinese astrologers claimed that
if Gemini was invaded by Mars, war and a poor harvest
would ensue.
Aristotle has left an interesting record of the occupation
at two different times of some of the stars of Gemini, by
the planet Jupiter, the earliest observations of this nature
of which we have knowledge, and made probably about
the middle of the fourth century B.C.
No reference to Castor and Pollux would be complete
without quoting Mrs. Martin's tribute to them in The
Friendly Stars:
"The constellation Gemini is the third spring sign of
the zodiac, and it is easy to see how the mere beauty of
its chief stars. Castor and Pollux, may have fastened upon
it the reputation of responsibility for the beautiful weather
that comes early in June. At this season of the year posi-
tion, atmosphere, and surroundings all combine to enhance
the beauty and accentuate the individuality of these two
beautiful stars. ... In a comparatively starless environ-
ment the twin stars, beloved of sailors, dominate the
western sky and shine side by side like two eyes benignly
set to keep a protecting watch upon the world. It is not
2o8 Star Lore of All Ages
the sailor alone whose fancy is pleased with the kindly
vigil they seem to keep. A landsman, too, may have
pleasanter dreams if he will but peep through the western
window and exchange friendly glances with them before
settling down for the night."
Pollux is now the brighter of the two stars, although
three hundred years ago, Castor was probably the lucida
of the constellation.
Castor is a beautiful star, in fact Sir John Herschel called
it the largest and finest of all the double stars in our hemi-
sphere. In a three-inch telescope with a power of ninety
diameters, these twin suns present a charming appearance.
This is a binary system, with a period somewhere between
250 and 1000 years. According to Allen this star is ap-
proaching the earth at the rate of 18.5 miles a second, while
Pollux is receding from us at the rate of one mile each
second.
Pollux is fifty-four light years distant, and is one of the
stars much used in navigation in taking lunar observations.
In astrology it was a fortunate star, portending eminence
and renown.
The Twin Stars are 43^° apart and this distance was
known to the Arabs as "the Ell," a measure of length.
In reality Pollux is two hundred trillions of miles farther
from us than Castor. There is only eleven minutes differ-
ence in the time of culmination of Castor and Pollux, so
they may both be regarded as on the meridian at 9 p.m.,
Feb. 24th.
Y and ^ Geminorum represented to the Arabs the brand
made by a hot iron on the neck of a camel, also the star
which shines with a sharp light.
8 Geminorum is a double star, known to the Arabs as
"Wasat, " meaning the " Middle, " i. e., of the constellation,
says Allen. The Chinese called it " Ta Tsun, " the " Great
Wine Jar." Just north of this star is the radiant point
of the meteors known as "the Geminids," visible early
in October,
Gemini, the Twins 209
e and ^ Germinorum bear respectively the Arab names
"Mebsuta" and "Mekbuda."
According to Allen tq Geminorum bears the name of
"Propus." On Burritt's map this star name is given to
a fifth magnitude star a few degrees south and west of t).
Eta is noted as marking the locality where Sir William Her-
schel discovered the planet Uranus, on the 13th of March,
1 78 1 . He thought at first that it was a comet, and reported
it as such. Maskelyne, however, suspected its planetary
nature, and the succeeding year it was announced as a
new planet by Lexell and La Place.
"Continental astronomers designated the planet as
'Herschel' and we find this title in text-books as late as
fifty years ago. Bode suggested the present title Uranus,
to conform to the mythological nomenclature of the other
planets, and because the name of the oldest god was es-
pecially applicable to the oldest, the most distant body
then known to our system."
R. H. Allen, Star Names and Their Meanings.
There is a star of the fifth magnitude, just west of ^
Geminorum, which is noteworthy as marking the location
of the summer solstice, in the tropic of Cancer, the place
occupied by the sun on the longest day of the year, and is
moreover the dividing limit between the torrid and north
temperate zones.
Gemini contains a beautiful star cluster in M 35. La
Place thus describes this magnificent object: "A mar-
vellously striking object. No one can see it for the first
time without an exclamation. . . . The field is perfectly
full of brilliant stars, unusually equal in magnitude and
distribution over the whole area. Nothing but a sight
of the object can convey an adequate idea of its exquisite
beauty."
Photo by Brogi
Farnese Hercules
National Museum, Naples
Hercules
The Kneeler
311
9 C^ The Head
\ \of Draco
QVega
in Lyra
Over
Head
4 U
V
Gemma Q
in
Corona Boreal
Kornephoros
3"n 3
• ">»Marfl]
•nil
2
y Ras Alhague
in Ophiuchus
• Ras Algethl
Cujam aS*
HERCULES
HERCULES
THE KNEELER
An Image none knows certainly to name
Nor what he labours for.
Aratos.
If a variety of titles are indicative of the antiqiiity of a
constellation, and its importance in the minds of the an-
cients, the constellation Hercules may well be considered
one of the oldest and most prominent of the eariy star
groups.
The origin of this constellation is shrouded in mystery.
It was not known to Greek astronomers by the name
"Hercules," but as "Engonasi" or "Engonasin," meaning
the "Kneeling One." They also knew it as "the Phan-
tom," and "the Man upon his Knees." Aratos refers to
the figure as "the inexplicable Image." Manilius also
alludes to the mystery attached to the title of this star
group. Creech thus translates the passage :
Conscious of his shame
A constellation kneels without a name.
As Hercules is usually represented,
... his right foot
Is planted on the twisting serpent's [Draco's] head.
In his right hand he brandishes a club, and in his left he
holds a branch, in which serpents are entangled. Over
his shoulders is thrown a lion's skin.
Allen tells us that some modem students of Euphratean
mythology associate Hercules and Draco with the Sun-god
Nimrod, and the dragon Tiamat slain by him. This tra-
213
214 Star Lore of All Ages
dition probably served as the foundation of the classical
myth concerning Hercules and the Lemaean Hydra.
Burritt tells us that this constellation was intended to
immortalise the name of Hercules the Theban, the son
of Jupiter and Alcmena. By the poets Hercules was often
referred to as "Alcides," possibly derived from Alcaeus,
the name of his grandfather.
Even in his infancy, Hercules displayed great courage
and strength, for it is related that he rose in his cradle
and strangled the serpents sent by Juno to destroy him.
He was educated by the centaur Chiron, and when eighteen
years of age commenced a career that was destined to im-
mortalise him. Hercules was subjected to the will of Eu-
rystheus, and at his behest performed the wonderful feats
of strength and agility that have been universally known
as "the twelve labours of Hercules." In addition to the
performance of these arduous duties he found time to ac-
company the Argonauts to Colchis, assisted the gods in
their war against the giants, conquered Laomedon, and
pillaged Troy. Unfortunately the hero was subject to fits
of insanity, and when these seized him performed many
rash deeds. One of these was his attempt to carry off the
sacred tripod from Apollo's temple at Delphi. As a punish-
ment for his misdeeds he was sold as a slave to Queen Om-
phale of Lydia, and it is said was often observed spinning
with the Queen's maidens in the women's hall; subsequently
he married the Queen.
He re-established his friend Tyndarus on the throne of
Sparta, and for his second wife married Dejanira, a sister
of Meleager, and took up his abode in the court of Ceyx,
King of Trachina. As Hercules was setting out on some
journey his wife unwittingly presented him with a cloak
which she had received from the centaur Nessus, whom
Hercules had slain for insulting Dejanira. This garment
proved to be poisoned. Hercules was infected, and feeling
his end approaching, resolved to die a death worthy of a
famous hero. He erected a great fimeral pyre on Mt. CEta.
Photo by Brogi
The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents at Pompeii
Hercules, the Kneeler 215
Calmly taking his place upon it, the torch was applied,
and he suffered the death by fire resignedly. After his
body was consumed, the ancient poets say, he was carried
up to heaven in a chariot drawn by four horses:
. . . Almighty Jove
In his swift car his honour'd offspring drove;
High o'er the hollow clouds the coursers fly,
And lodge the hero in the starry sky.
Ovid.
The admiring gods gave him Hebe, the cup-bearer of the
immortals, as his wife.
Hercules, because of his great physical prowess and his
success in accomplishing well-nigh impossible feats, was
one of the most popular of the figures of mythology. The
Fabian gens of Rome, a race of men superior in physical
and intellectual attainments, claimed that they were de-
scended from this paragon of fearlessness.
The twelve labours of Hercules are supposed to have an
astronomical significance, and to refer to the sim's passage
through the zodiacal signs. "Beginning with the summer
solstice a series of coincidences will be noted which makes
impressive this ancient belief. For example the first sign
through which the sun passes is Leo, and Hercules' first
labour was the slaying of the Nemean lion. In the second
month," says Anthon, "the sun enters the sign Virgo, when
the constellation of the Hydra sets, and in his second labotu:
Hercules destroyed the Lemsean Hydra. In the third
month the sun enters the sign Libra, when the constellation
of the Centaur rises, and in his third labour Hercules en-
countered and slew the centaur. These comparisons are
traceable throughout the year and add distinct testimony
to the ingenuity of the ancients." For a more detailed
account of this matter the reader is referred to Anthon's
Classical Dictionary.
There is certainly a significance in the location of this
figure of a giant trampling on a serpent, for he is placed
2i6 Star Lore of All Ages
head to head with the giant Ophiuchus, who is represented
as holding a writhing serpent in his grasp. Hercules has
been thought to represent the first Adam, beguiled by the
serpent, and condemned to a life of toil, while Ophiuchus
is supposed to be the second Adam, triumphant over the
serpent.
The relations of mankind and serpentkind dwelt on in
the Bible, and figuring so prominently in the sky figures,
seems to indicate the antiquity of these constellations, and
shows clearly that there was a deliberate plan carried out
in designing them. The constellation Hercules is without
doubt linked with the earliest records of the history of man.
In Phoenicia, the constellation Hercules is said to have
represented the god Melkarth, and was an object of worship,
Melkarth being regarded as a Saviour by the Phoenicians.
It has also been identified with Ixion, Prometheus Bound,
and Theseus.
Brown holds that the constellation is Euphratean in
origin, and was known originally as "Lugal," or "Sarru,"
the King.
It is significant that we always find Hercules represented
as kneeling, an incongruous position for a hero or god
engaged in trampling on a great serpent. There appears
no satisfactory explanation for this attitude. Blake says
that there is a story related by ^schylus about the stones
in the Champ des Cailloux, between Marseilles and the
embouchure of the Rhone, to the effect that Hercules being
amongst the Ligurians, found it necessary to fight with
them, and looked about in vain for some missiles to hurl
at his foes. Jupiter, touched by the danger of his son, sent
a rain of round stones with which Hercules repulsed his
enemies. The Engonasis is thus considered by some to
represent the giant bending down to pick up the missiles.
In the modern representations of the figure, Hercules
swings a club in one hand, and holds fast a branch, or the
three-headed dog Cerberus, in the other, so that there does
not seem much reason or opportunity for him to pick up
3 5
: s
c
r!
SU
'>
o
r>
BO
J
Hercules, the Kneeler 217
stones. Posidonius sagely remarks that it was a pity
Jupiter did not rain the stones on the Ligurians in the first
place, and save Hercules the trouble of picking them up.
Bayer represents Hercules as holding in addition to his
club an apple branch, possibly to indicate his connection
with the myth of the Golden Apples of the Garden of Hes-
perides. For his eleventh labour he was ordered to pro-
cure them.
Those who claim that Hercules represents Adam cer-
tainly have much to substantiate their theory, for associated
with the figure we find a serpent, a garden, and the apple.
"In latitude 40° north, 4667 B.C.," says Plimket, "Her-
cules culminated gloriously on the northern meridian at
midnight of the spring equinox. Never since that date
has he held so commanding a position in the sky. " At the
present time and in our latitude Hercules will ever rise
reversed, and through the simimer and autumn months
his kneeling figure is always to be seen hanging downwards
in the sky in anything but a dignified or commanding atti-
tude. We may readily suppose that those who beheld
this grand and conquering figure considered that it typified
the ever increasing triumph at that season of the year of
the power of light over darkness.
The Greek name "Herakles," for which there appears
no Aryan derivation, is a rendering of the Phoenician " Hare-
khal" (the traveller), the Latin Hercules. Herakles was
represented on coins of Cyzicus, about 500-450 bjc. It
is perhaps the most familiar coin type throughout Hellas.
According to Maunder, the first suggestion that this
kneeler was the great national Hellenic deity seems to
have been due to Panyasis, the uncle of the great historian
Herodotus. In a poem on the subject of the great national
hero, in order to do him the greater honour, he sought to
identify him with the unnamed wrestler of the constellation.
The fact that, despite this effort, the identification had
entirely failed of adoption two hundred years later, is as
near positive proof as we can get, not merely that it was
2i8 Star Lore of All Ages
not known whom the constellation represented, but that
it was known that it did not represent Hercules.
The faint stars in this region of the sky, according to the
ancients, represented a meadow, where a shepherd pastured
his flock, and the long rows of stars in Hercules and Serpens
are fences protecting the sheep from the hyenas and jackals
that are supposed to be prowling about. The other side
of the meadow is protected by the shepherd's two dogs,
the stars a Herculis and a Ophiuchi representing the dogs.
To the early Christians Hercules represented the Three
Wise Men of the East, and more appropriately Samson.
a Herculis, or Ras Algethi, the Arab name, meaning the
head of the kneeler, is a beautiful double star, with a fine
contrast of colours in its orange red and bluish green stars.
Its variability was discovered by Sir Wm. Herschel in 1795.
It is one of the most noted of Secchi's third type with banded
spectra. The Chinese called it "the Emperor's Throne."
X Herculis is noteworthy as marking the approximate
objective point, according to Sir Wm. Herschel, of our
solar system, the so-called Apex of the Sun's Way, whither
we are speeding at the rate of from 7J/2 to 11 3^ miles a
second. More recent observations show that the goal of
our system is situated in the vicinity of the star Vega in
the constellation Lyra.
Hercules is remarkable for containing a wonderful star
cluster, situated between the stars ^ and t). Halley dis-
covered it in 1 7 14, and thought it a nebula, and " Halley 's
nebula" was its early title. It can only be resolved in
large telescopes. Harvard observers have counted as
many as 724 stars outside of the nucleus in this wonderful
cluster. It is visible to the naked eye on a clear night,
and is considered the finest cluster in the northern
heavens, although in a small telescope it does not com-
pare in beauty with the beautiful clusters in Perseus,
Gemini, and Sagittarius, r
■ Concerning this wonderful object Serviss writes: "You must go
to the southern hemisphere to find its match anjrwhere in the sky.
Hercules, the Kneeler 219
• Herschel estimated that it contained 14,000 stars. In a
recent photograph of this cluster 50,000 stars are shown in
an area of the sky which would be entirely covered by the
full moon.
Photographs of this swarm of suns fail to do it justice
because of its density. In order to give some idea of the
wonderful structure of such a cluster a photograph of the
globular cluster w Centauri in the Southern Hemisphere is
here shown. It is estimated that this cluster contains in
the neighborhood of ten thousand stars, and within its con-
fines Professor Bailey discovered 128 variable stars. This
remarkable photograph was taken at the Southern Station
of the Harvard College Observatory at Arequipa, Peru,
and the writer is indebted to Prof. E. C. Pickering, Di-
rector of the Harvard College Observatory for the print
here reproduced.
The stars x, e, ^, tq, Herculis form a figure not unlike
a keystone, which serves many as a means of identifying
the constellation.
It is a ball of suns. Now you need a telescope. You must have one.
You must either buy or borrow it, or you must pay a visit to an obser-
vatory, for this is a thing that no intelligent human being in these days
can aflford not to see. Can it be possible that any man can know that
fifteen thousand suns are to be seen, burning in a compact globular
cluster, and not long to regard them with his own eyes? "
Photo by Anderson
Hercules and Hesperides
Villa Albani, Rome
Hydra
The Water Snake
221
OArcturus
in
Bootes.
2
'• o
V Denebola
Iieo
1
O
Begulus
Q Spica
^^ in
"Virgo
Alphard
a The Hea
of Hydr
HYDRA
Photo by Prof. Bailey, Harvard College Observatory
Star Cluster in Centauri
HYDRA
THE WATER SNAKE
But lo: afar another constellation,
They call it Hydra like a living creature.
'Tis long drawn out. His head moves on below
The midst of the Crab; his length below the Lion,
His tail hangs o'er the Centaur's self.
Frothingham's Aratos.
Burritt's chart represents Hydra as bearing~on his coils,
as he draws himself along the sky, a Cup, and two birds,
the Crow and the Owl, the latter being a recently added
asterism. His fierce head and extended fangs seem danger-
ously close to the Lesser Dog, while the Crab, just above
him, lies in wait to seize him in its vice-Hke claws.
Hydra is supposed to be the snake shown on a urano-
graphic stone from the Euphrates of 1200 B.C., "identified
with the source of the fountains of the great deep, " and one
of the several sky symbols of the great dragon Tiamat.
On one of the Euphratean boundary stones, those most
ancient records of early times, the figures of the Water
Snake and the Scorpion appear side by side.
Brown claims that Hydra is a variant reduplication of
Cetus, the storm and ocean monster attacked by the sun-
god, and in an ancient Akkadian hymn it is referred to as
bearing the yoke on its seven heads.
The ancients perceived an analogy between a quick flow-
ing river, and the swift gliding of a huge glistening serpent,
and so, as Maunder says, we arrive at the idea of the River
of the Snake, which develops into an ocean stream. The
Egyptians at one time regarded this constellation as the
223
224 Star Lore of All Ages
celestial counterpart of the River Nile. It has also been
identified with the Argonautic constellations.
In Greek mythology Hydra was the Lemasan monster,
a great water snake, destroyed by the famous Hercules
as the second labour imposed on him. It is related that
this fierce serpent lived in a swamp near the well of Amy-
mone, and was wont to ravage the country of Argos. The
monster had one hundred heads according to Diodorus,
fifty according to Simonides, and nine according to the more
commonly received opinion of Apollodorus, Hyginus, and
others. The head in the centre was said to be immortal.
As fast as Hercules struck off one of the monster's heads
with his club two new ones appeared in its place, and the
task of slaying the monster appeared hopeless. At this
juncture, the legend relates, lolaus, the faithful nephew of
Hercules, came to his assistance, and suggested burning
off the heads of the serpent. This they successfully ac-
complished, and the ninth head which was immortal they
buried under a rock. Hercules then dipped his arrows in
the Hydra's blood, which ever after rendered mortal the
wounds they inflicted.
Juno, jealous of the success of Hercules, sent a sea crab to
bite his foot while he was engaged in slaying the Hydra,
but the giant easily disposed of the crustacean, much to
Juno's disgust.
This myth connects Hydra with the Crab, a relation
which, owing to their proximity in the sky, would seem
to call for an explanation.
Burritt claims that this fable of the many-headed Hydra
may be understood to mean nothing more than that the
marshes of Lerna were infested with a multitude of
serpents, which seemed to multiply as fast as they
were destroyed.
Among the constellations we find the figures of three
serpents. At the present time their position in the heavens
does not appear especially significant, but in order to under-
stand in a measure the history of the constellations, we must
Photo by Anderson
Hercules and the Hydra
Uffizi Gallery at Florence
Hydra, the Water Snake 225
endeavour to see the heavens as viewed by the ancients
who designed them.
By reason of the Precession of the Equinoxes, that slow
change in the position of the heavens, which is constantly
going on, the constellations bore different relations to the
important points in the heavens than they do now. A
Precessional globe enables us to see the star groups as they
appeared at any period, and taking the date Maunder sug-
gests, 2700 B.C., as the approximate time when the con-
stellations were designed, and 40 degrees north latitude
as the probable abode of those who planned them, we find
in the grouping of the serpentine constellational figures
several significant facts. The far-extended Hydra crawls
along his full length, "going on his belly." The Serpent
clasped tightly in the hands of the giant Ophiuchus writhes
upward in his struggle to escape, while the Dragon, the
great serpent of the north, twines around the crown of the
sky, as if guarding the Pole.
Again Hydra lay at this time along the equator, taking
seven hours out of the twenty-four to cross the meridian.
The Serpent marked the intersection of the equator with
one of the principal meridians of the sky, while the Dragon
of the north linked the north pole of the celestial equator
to the north pole of the ecliptic.
These facts seem significant, and tend to show that there
was a definite plan in the minds of those who designed these
star groups.
Further, Draco was supposed to represent the oblique
course of the stars, while Hydra, the great southern serpent,
symbolised the moon's course.
Hydra has been identified with the Flood, the River
Jordan, and Plunket claims that it represents the demon
Vrita, of the Rig- Veda, conquered by India. Between the
first magnitude stars Procyon and Regulus, and between
the ecliptic and equator, there is a group of stars in Hydra
marking the head of the creature, a striking and conspicu-
ous group, forming a rhomboidal figure. These stars were
IS
226 Star Lore of All Ages
called by the Chinese "the Willow Branch," or "Circular
Garland," which rules over planets, and forms the beak
of the "Red Bird." It was worshipped at festivals of the
summer solstice as an emblem of immortality.
Here, too, Allen tells us was the seventh Hindu lunar
station, known as the "Embracer," which was figured as
a wheel. Edkins asserts that this star group was also
known as "the Seven Stars." In the Euphratean star
list it bears the title of "the Mouth of the Snake Drinks."
According to Dr. Seiss, the Hydra stands for that Old
Serpent called the Devil, while to Schiller it represented
the River Jordan.
The only star of importance in this constellation is the
second magnitude star a Hydrae, a dull red star known to
the Arabs as "Alphard, " meaning the "solitary one,"
an appropriate title as there are no other bright stars in this
region of the heavens. Tycho Brahe was the first to call
it "Cor Hydrae," the heart of Hydra, a familiar name for
the star. The Arabs also knew it as " the Backbone of the
Serpent," and it was the most prominent star in the great
Chinese asterism called "the Red Bird." Alphard cul-
minates at 9 p. M. on March 26th.
Eudosia thus alludes to Hydra and the star Alphard:
. . . Near the equator rolls
The sparkling Hydra, proudly eminent
To drink the Galaxy's refulgent sea;
Nearly a fourth of the encircling curve
Which girds the ecliptic, his vast folds involve;
Yet ten the number of his stars diffused
O'er the long track of his enormous spires;
Chief beams his breast, sure of the second rank,
But emulous to gain the first.
Garrett P. Serviss, who has done so much to popularise
astronomy, writes as follows of the stars like Alphard lone
and unattended: "There is an attraction about these
solitary bright stars that is almost mystical, their very
loneliness lending interest to the view, as when one watches
Hydra, the Water Snake 227
some distant snow-clad peak gleaming in the rays of sunset
after all the lower mountains have sunk into the blue shad-
ows of coming night. "
The star s Hydras presents a paradox. It is a double
star. The brighter star, of the third magnitude, is sixteen
times brighter than its companion, yet the fainter star
has six times the mass of the brighter.
Leo
The Lion
229
Denebola
Virgo
O
Leo
4
• Alterf,
A
. Alphara.
"^in Hydra Q^rea
LEO
THE LION
The Lion flames. There the sun's course runs hottest.
Empty of grain the arid fields appear
When first the sun into the Lion enters.
Aratos.
The figiire of Leo, very much as we now have it, appears
in all the Indian and Egyptian zodiacs, and of all the
zodiacal constellations it is probably the most famous.
As many authorities claim, its prominence is beyond ques-
tion due to the fact that the place of the sun at the summer
solstice was in this constellation at the time when the star
groups were designed. There was thus a visible connection
between the constellation Leo and the return of the sun to the
place of power and glory at the apex of the heavenly arch.
This obvious relationship is the principal reason why Leo
was held in such high esteem and reverence by the ancients.
Owing to the change wrought by the Precession of the
Equinoxes, the sun in ancient times entered this constel-
lation about a month earlier than it does now, at a time
when the heat of summer was at its maximum. "The
sun glows in the Lion," says Seneca, meaning that when
the sun enters the sign of Leo at the summer solstice, the
highest temperature of the year is experienced. The
placing of the fiery and ferocious Lion, the king of beasts,
in this part of the sky, symbolised the fact that the sun
reigned supreme when it arrived in this constellation.
To escape this season of heat, the lions of the desert
sought the valley of the Nile, that river attaining its highest
level in the latter part of July, when the sun was in Leo,
231
232 Star Lore of All Ages
and this fact is thought by some to acxiount for the name
of the constellation.
The figure of a lion's head was usual on the gates which
opened the canals irrigating the Nile Valley, and we find,
even in modem times, fountains springing from the gaping
jaws of graven lions, patterned after ancient fountains, a
decorative S}Tnbol that was universally employed through-
out the Greco-Roman world.
At Athens, Ephesus, Olympia, Agrigentum, and many
other places, lion fountains are found, but it is not de-
finitely known where the idea of the design originated.
Curtius describes an Assyrian bas-relief from Bairan, show-
ing water streaming from a ring-shaped vessel, and on
either side of the foimtain, as if on guard, stands the figure
of a lion.
The water clock, which was used by the ancients in judi-
cial proceedings, had the form of a lion, and a name which
signified "the guardian of the stream," and some think
the idea of protection may have been the origin of the as-
sociation of lions with fountains, and that the custom
may have been originated in Asia.
The connection between the sun, king of the heavenly
hosts, and the lion, king of beasts, is obvious. Macrobius
says: "This beast seems to derive his own nature from
that luminary [the sun] , being in force and heat as superior
to all other animals, as the sun is to the stars." The Lion
is always seen with his eyes wide open, and full of fire.
There is little doubt as to the existence of the Lion among
the first Babylonian constellations, and throughout an-
tiquity it has held a close relationship with the sun. It
was "the Fiery Trigon" of the Arabs. The Egyptians
worshipped it because the sun's entrance into the sign coin-
cided with the inundation of the Nile, and some author-
ities think that the mysterious Sphinx symbolises Leo.
The Mexicans also worshipped the Lion, and the chief
Druid of Britain was styled "a Lion." The national
banner of the ancient Persians bore the device of the sun
Leo, the Lion 233
in Leo, and a lion couchant with the sun rising at his back
was sculptured on many of their palaces.
Among the Peruvians, Leo has the form of a puma
springing upon his prey, and thus we find the primitive
people of the eastern and western world viewing in this
region of the heavens a gigantic feline creature.
The lion was the symbol of the tribe of Judah, and
the constellation appears in the Hebrew zodiac. It was
this tribal symbol of Judah that appeared emblazoned on
the shield of Richard I. the Crusader. The association of
Leo with Judah arose from the fact that Leo was Judah's
natal sign. In the Bible there are frequent allusions to this
connection between Leo and the tribe of Judah. Thus
we read: "Judah is a Lion's whelp," and again, "The
Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed."
Christians of the Middle Ages called Leo one of " Daniel's
Lions, " and distinct reference is made to Leo in an inscrip-
tion on the walls of the Ramesseum at Thebes. To Schiller
Leo represented St. Thomas.
According to Greek fable, this Lion represents the formid-
able animal which infested the forest of Nemaea. It was
slain by Hercules, his first labour, and placed by Jupiter
among the stars in commemoration of that dreadful conflict.
Hercules is generally represented as wearing the lion's
skin, and he is said to have reclined on it as he awaited
his doom on the funeral pyre. Some aver that Hercules
strangled the lion with his hands, but according to another
legend he seized the lion by its jaws, and drove his heavy
club down the creature's throat.
Maunder points out a curious relationship between four
of the zodiacal constellations, one of which is Leo. He
says: "The four most important signs of the zodiac
are those in which the sun is located on the longest and the
shortest days, and on the two days when the days and
nights are of equal length. These four signs in the days
of Noah were the Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, and the
Water-Poiirer.
234 Star Lore of All Ages
"The Bull, Lion, and Man are three of the four Cherubic
forms frequently referred to in the Bible, and so often
an object of worship in early idolatries. The fourth form,
the Eagle, is so closely associated with the Scorpion, that
it is an evident fact that the guardianship, as it were, of
the four quarters of the heavens had been allotted to these
four mysterious forms."
The Medes, who dwelt in the vicinity of Babylon early
in the fourth millennium B.C., invented an astronomic mono-
gram in which, some claim, there may be clearly read an
allusion to these four constellations of the zodiac, which
at that date marked the four seasons.
This monogram was used as a standard thousands of
years later by the Semitic Assyrians. The principal stars
in these four constellations were known to the ancients
as "the four Royal Stars."
The Persians had a tradition that four brilliant stars
marked the four cardinal points, i. e., the colures, and
these Royal Stars were Regulus, in Leo, Aldebaran, in
Taurus, Antares, in Scorpius, and Fomalhaut, in the
Southern Fish. These four stars were celebrated
throughout all Asia. The brilliant star in the Eagle, Altair,
has been suggested as the fourth Royal Star instead of
Fomalhaut. Thus, as in the vision of Ezekiel, so in the
constellation figures, the Lion, the Ox, the Man, and the
Eagle stood as the upholders of the firmament, as "the
pillars of heaven." They looked down like sentinels upon
all creation, and seemed to guard the four quarters of the
sky.
Leo is for many reasons significant to Masons. In the
four Royal Stars, the four great Elohim, or Decans, gods
ruling the signs, were believed to dwell. The four Decans
who ruled the four angles of the heavens were the most
important and most powerful.
To these four stars divine honours were paid, and sacred
images were erected in which the Lion, Eagle, Ox, and Man
were variously combined. These figures appear on the
Leo, the Lion 235
Royal Arch Banner, and the Royal Arch itself is best ex-
emplified by the appearance of the constellations them-
selves, and Leo, typical of strength, is at the very summit
of the Arch at low twelve on Feb, 5th. This is the best
time to view the Arch, says Brown, ^ as it then appears in
all its beauty in the starry skies.
The symbol of Leo (Q) some think is intended to re-
present a crouching lion, or its mane or tail; others claim
that it outlines the conspicuous figure in the group, the
so-called "Sickle of Stars," by which many identify the
constellation. The centre of the "Sickle" marks the radi-
ant point of the celebrated Leonid meteor shower, that
astonished the world by the brilliant displays of 1833
and 1866, and to which we owe much of our knowledge of
meteoric astronomy.^
Besides the figure of the Sickle which marks the head of
the Lion, there is a rectangular figure which marks his
hind quarters. In this place was situated one of the Hindu
lunar stations, represented by the figure of a Bed or
Couch.
Astrologers distinguished Leo as "the sole house of the
sun, " and taught that the world was created when the sun
was in that sign. They called it "the House of Lions."
Those born between July 226. and Aug. 226. are said
to be bom under the sign Leo and governed by the sun.
Such persons are large framed, austere of countenance,
with dark eyes and tawny hair, strong voice, and leonine
character, resolute and ambitious, but generous and cour-
teous. Leo governs the heart and back and reigns over
Italy, France, Bohemia, Sicily, Rome, Bristol, Bath, Taun-
ton, and Philadelphia. It is a masculine sign and fortunate.
^ Stellar Theology by Robt. Brown.
'"The 'Sickle' in its entirety," says Serviss,"is an attractive aster-
ism, and hanging so conspicuously in the sky on a spring evening it
may be imaginatively regarded as a harbinger of the opening of the
season when the thoughts of men are turning to preparations for future
harvests."
236 Star Lore of All Ages
The morning-glory is the emblematic flower, and the sig-
nificant stone is the rub}'.
Only two Emperors in all history were ruled by Leo.
They were Marcus Anrelius and Claudius Gothicus. In
a recent article in the Century Magazine, entitled "A
Discover}'- concerning Marcus Aurelius," the author bases
his alleged discovery of the tomb of this Emperor partly
on the fact that on the cover of the sarcophagus there
appears the figure of "a lion all alone, a sort of heraldic-
appearing lion reclining with paws crossed . . . the lion
of the sign of the zodiac." This the author claims was
the best evidence that the person buried in the sarcophagus
was born tmder the sign Leo, and from further facts he
comes to the conclusion that this tomb was that of the
noted Emperor.
The constellation Leo bears little resemblance to the
outline of the king of beasts, and some authorities think
that the name was originally applied only to the principal
star in the constellation, the first magnitude star " Regulus,"
meaning the "little King" or "Prince." This has also
been called "the Star Royal," and the cuneiform inscrip-
tions of the Euphratean Valley refer to it as "the star of
the King." The Arabs knew it as "the Kingly Star,"
and it was one of the four celebrated Royal Stars before
alluded to.
Apparently its position and not its lustre has made
Regulus famous, for almost all the first magnitude stars
exceed it in brilliance.
Regulus has been a famous star in all ages. The an-
cient belief was that it ruled the affairs of heaven, and
with astrologers it was always a fortimate star. Accord-
ing to the best authority, Regulus was not named from
the illustrious Roman Consul of that name, as has some-
times been supposed, but was named by Copernicus from
the diminutive of the earlier "Rex."
The impression of greatness and power connected with
Regtdus was universal. This was doubtless due to the
Leo, the Lion 237
fact that it was the brightest star in the principal zodiacal
sign.
"Cor Leonis," or "the Heart of the Lion," was another
name for this star, and Al-Biruni called it "the Heart of /
the Royal Lion." /
The importance of Regulus in ancient times is well at-
tested by the great variety of names assigned it, titles for
the most part signifying power and might. In Babylon
it was " Sharru, " the King, in India, " Magha," the Mighty,
in Sogdiana "Magh," the Great, in Persia, "Miyan," the
Centre, among the Turanians "Masu," the Hero, and in
Akkadia it was associated with the fifth antediluvian King
of the celestial sphere. In Arabia it was known as
"Kingly," in Greece ^aatXcjxo? ctffTiQp, the equivalent of
Rex, the King Star.
On a Ninevite tablet there is this reference to Regulus:
" If the star of the great lion is gloomy, the heart of the
people will not rejoice."
Regulus is one of the so-called "Lunar Stars," and is
consequently much used in navigation. On the 20th of
August Regulus almost marks the position of the sun. It
has a spectrum of the Sirian type, and is approaching the
earth it is said at the rate of 5.5 miles a second. Some
authorities claim that this great sun sends out a thousand
times as much light as our sun, and is 160 light years
distant from us.
Mrs. Martin, who has endowed the first magnitude stars
with an individuality that will ever enhance their beauty,
and endear them to all star lovers, regards Regulus as the
most neighbourly of stars, as it is visible for eight months
in the year. The following reference to Regulus is quoted
from Serviss's Round the Year with the Stars : " When
the ' Royal Star ' crosses high on the meridian in the vernal
evenings, the imagination is thrown back almost the whole
course of the history of the Aryan race, and the rays of Regu-
lus bring again the dreams of Babylon and Nineveh, of
Greece and Rome, of India, and of the star-watching deserts
238 Star Lore of All Ages
of Arabia. Cyrus, in his conquering marches, may have
looked to that star for help and inspiration, for it was
the heavenly guardian of the Persian monarchs."
Regulus appears above the horizon a very little north
of east about 9 p.m. on the evening of New Year's Day, and
culminates at 9 p.m. April 6th.
The star ^ Leonis, or "Denebola," from an abbreviated
Arab title meaning "the Lion's Tail," is an interesting star.
It marked the tenth Arab lunar station known as "the
Changer," i. e., of the weather, and Al-Biruni wrote of it:
"The heat turns away when it rises, and the cold turns
away when it disappears." Denebola is one of the stars
forming the so-called " Diamond of Virgo, " a great diamond
formed by the four stars Denebola, Arcturus, Cor Caroli,
and Spica.
In astrology Denebola was considered unlucky, portend-
ing misfortune and disgrace. Its spectrum is Sirian, and
it is approaching our system at the rate of about twelve
miles a second. It is said to be thirty-three light years
distant, and about ten times as bright as the sun. In all
probability Denebola was a brighter star in former times
than now, for Al-Sufi speaks of it as "the brilliant and great
star of the first magnitude which is found on the tail." It
comes to the meridian at 9 p.m. on the 3d of May.
Y Leonis, also called "Algeiba," an Arab name meaning
"the Forehead," is one of the finest double stars in the
heavens. Doberck estimates its period as four hundred
years. Both stars can be seen very well in a three-inch
telescope, with a power of 130, and the marked contrast of
colours renders it a beautiful object. The colours are bright
orange and greenish yellow. Sir Wm. Herschel discovered
its duplicity in 1782. This star is approaching our system
at the rate of twenty-four miles a second.
5 Leonis bears the Arab name "Zosma," the "Girdle."
Ulugh Beg called it " Duhr," the " Lion's Back." In China
it was known as "the High Minister of State." It is said
to be approaching us at the rate of nine miles a second.
Leo, the Lion 239
e and |x Leonis were designated by an Arab writer as being
"a whip's length apart. " The distance is a little over two
degrees.
X and a Leonis were known to the Chinese as ** the Honour-
able Lady" and "the Higher General" respectively.
Lepus
The Hare
«4X
Saifiii
Orion
I Eiffel
A SlTlua
\J in
Cauls ilajor
Oolumba
>0
*
LEPUS
THE HARE
Under Orion's feet, mark too the Hare,
Perpetually pursued. Behind him Sinus
Drives as in chase, hard pressing when he rises,
And when he sinks as hotly pressing still.
Frothingham's Aratos,
One of the chief characteristics of the constellation figtires
is the element of strife and conflict that seems to be espe-
cially emphasised, and is the predominating feature in many
of the star groups. Thus the giant Hercules brandishes
a club and tramples on the Dragon's head; Orion attacks
the onrushing Bull; Ophiuchus struggles with a writhing
Serpent, and crushes underfoot the Scorpion, which in turn
thrusts at him with its sting; the Hounds, driven on by the
Herdsman, continually pursue and harass the Great Bear;
the fierce monster of the deep, the Whale, seems eagerly
looking for whom he may devour, while the champion
Perseus, with drawn sword, stands ever ready to join in
mortal combat; the Archer aims his shaft at the heart of
the Scorpion, the Hydra pursues the Lesser Dog, and is in
t\im in danger of being seized by the Crab; and here we
find the timid Hare fleeing before the Hounds of Orion.
The story the stars unfold is therefore one replete with
action and strife, and this fact is further evidence that the
constellations were deliberately planned, for a haphazard
arrangement of figures, passive in their attitudes, would
savour of no special significance; but action calls for a plan
and a definite idea that is preconceived, and so we find in
the constellations an endeavour on the part of primitive
man, through the mediimi of symbolism and allegory, to
243
244 Star Lore of All Ages
depict in the starry heavens for all ages, the predominant
features of their lives, with special emphasis laid on the
manifestations of nature, and the phenomena coincident
with the creation of the world.
Classical writers are much in doubt as to the history of
the constellation Lepus. It is situated directly south of
Orion, and was one of the, animals which the giant hunter
is said to have delighted in hunting. It is for this reason,
so it is said, placed near him among the stars.
Lepus is an inconspicuous constellation, and in these
latitudes seems to crouch low on the horizon as if in an
endeavour to escape attention.
According to Brown, the Hare is a reduplication of the
moon, and as the sun seems to put to flight the moon, and
as the solar overcomes the lunar light, so Orion pursues
and conquers the Hare. An astonishing amount of folk-
lore connects the moon and the Hare. Allen in his Star
Names and their Meanings relates much that is of interest
in this connection.
Dr. Seiss claims that in the Persian and Egyptian zodiacs
the figure represented beneath the foot of Orion is not a
Hare but a Serpent. If this is the case, we would have
among the constellations the figures of three giants engaged
in subduing serpents, surely sufficient to fully emphasise
the enmity that instinctively exists between mankind and
serpentkind. Schiller regarded Lepus as representing
Gideon's Fleece.
Lepus does not rise tmtil Aquila, the Eagle, the bird which
loves the sun, is setting, from which fact arose the mytho-
logical belief of the hatred existing between the Hare and
the Eagle.
As Lepus sets the Crow rises, and this fact accounts for
the ancient belief that the Hare detested the voice of the
Raven.
The early Arabs sometimes called this constellation "the
Chair of the Giant" or "the Throne of Jauzah," owing to
its position in the sky close beneath Orion. The Arabs
Lepus, the Hare 245
also Kkened the four stars forming the quadrilateral which
identifies the constellation, to four camels slaking their
thirst in the near-by river in the sky, the Milky Way, or
possibly Eridanus, the River Po.
Hewitt says that in eariy Egyptian astronomy Lepus
was "the Boat of Osiris," the great god of that country,
and identified with Orion.
The Chinese called the constellation "a shed." Lepus
has been thought by some to represent certain Biblical
figures such as "the Magdalen in tears," "Judas Iscariot,''
or "Cain driven from the face of the earth to the face of
the moon."
a Leporis was called "Arneb" by the Arabs. It is a
double star, the stars being coloured pale yellow and grey.
It culminates at 9 p.m. on Jan. 24th.
Six seconds away from Alpha is situated Sir John Her-
schel's 3780, a sextuple star, a beautifvd object even in a
small telescope.
P Leporis, known to the Arabs as "Nihal," is a triple
star of magnitudes 3d, loth, and nth.
Lepus contains the celebrated variable R. Leporis, of
a deep crimson colour. It was discovered by Hind in 1845,
and is sometimes referred to as "Hind's Crimson Star."
It has been likened to "a drop of blood on a black field."
No other star in these latitudes compares with it in depth
of colovu*.
Just west of Lepus is the little asterism known as "the
Brandenburg Sceptre," designed by Kirch in 1688. It
contains but four stars of the 4th and 5th magnitudes, and
the sceptre is represented in Burritt's Atlas as standing
upright in the sky.
Libra
The Scales
247
0° e»"
O
2nbeneachaniaU
.tV^
o^*«
i
LIBRA
LIBRA
THE SCALES
Libra weighs in equal scales the year.
Thomson.
Of the zodiacal signs Libra is the only one not Euphratean
in its origin, the figure having been imported from Egypt.
It is also the only zodiacal constellation that represents
an inanimate object. It represented originally the balance
of the sun at the horizon between the upper and under
worlds, and secondarily the equality of the days and nights
at the equinoxes.
The title "Libra," the " Balance," we owe to the Romans,
but it is not known definitely how far back into antiquity
the symbol goes. The constellation is anciently repre-
sented by the figure of a man holding a pair of scales. The
human figure is omitted in all Arabian zodiacs, as it was
held unlawful by the believers in the Koran to make any
representations of the human form. On Burritt's Atlas
also the Scales appear alone.
The Greeks combined this constellation with the Scor-
pion, and the stars in Libra formed the claws of the creature.
Greek writers mention "Chelse Scorpionis" (the claws of
the Scorpion) in the place of Libra.
Libra seems to have been made an individual constel-
lation, and separated from Scorpio, in the time of Julius
Caesar, for the Romans placed here the figure of Jtilius
Caesar holding a balance in his hand, instead of the Claws,
and among the titles "Libra" was commonly employed.
In after time, the figure of the Emperor was taken away,
and the Scales only were retained as we now see them,
249
250 Star Lore of All Ages
Some authorities hold that, in spite of the fact that the
Greeks did not recognise a constellation figure between
Virgo and Scorpio, an independent constellation existed at
an earlier date. It is not clear just why the Greeks failed to
discover it.
Serviss states that there are indistinct indications that
in the valley of the Euphrates, the constellation now known
as Libra stood for the Tower of Babel.
Besides the analogy mentioned respecting the sign of the
Balance and the equality of the nights and days at the
time of the autumnal equinox, we find that the Balance was
the emblem of the office of Virgo, as the goddess of justice,
so that there seems to have been a desire to connect these
two constellations.
The Balance in poetical fiction belongs to the goddess
Astraea, and in the pans the fate of mortals was supposed
to be weighed.
The symbol of the sign Libra, =0, represents it is said the
beam of a pair of scales in equilibrium, thus denoting the
equal diiration of the nights and days. Brown however
thinks that the symbol represents the top of the archaic
Euphratean altar, located in the zodiac next preceding
Scorpio, and figured on early gems, tablets, and boundary
stones.
Allen points out that the stars in Libra, a, ji, ^, 5, ^, Xi
X,, and V, seem to represent a circular altar. These stars
were also thought to represent a censer, or a lamp and fire.
On an ancient zodiac there appears between the constel-
lations of the Virgin and the Scales, the figure of a mound
or altar, round which a serpent twines. Miss Gierke re-
calls the association of the seventh month, " Tashritu," with
the seventh sign, and with the Holy Mound, Tul Ku, desig-
nating the Biblical Tower of Babel surmounted by an altar,
so there is little doubt that in very early times the ancients
saw in these stars an altar towering to the skies.
Libra is thus connected with the constellation Ara, the
Altar, just south of it, and many have considered that in
Libra, the Scales 251
these figures are represented the altar of Noah, erected
after the Deluge.
In Brown's Euphratean star list Libra is designated
"the Claws," "the Life Maker of Heaven," and "the
Lofty Altar."
Libra has been a great favourite with the poets of all
ages. Manilius thus alludes to the Starry Balance:
Then Day and Night are weigh'd in Libra's Scales
Equal a while.
Milton refers to the constellation in his Paradise Lost :
Th' Eternal to prevent such horrid fray
Hung forth in heav'n his golden scales yet seen
Betwixt Astrasa and the Scorpion sign,
Wherein all things created first he weighed.
And Homer sings:
Th' Eternal Father hung
His golden Scales aloft.
But Allen thinks this is not a reference to our Libra.
Longfellow in his "Occultation of Orion" wrote :
the scale of night
Silently with the stars ascended.
And in his "Poet's Calendar" for September we read:
I bear the Scales, when hang in equipoise
The night and day.
In India Libra was regarded as a Balance, and in the
zodiac of that country it is figured as a man bending on one
knee and holding a pair of scales.
In China this constellation first represented a dragon,
but afterwards a celestial Balance. In their early solar
zodiac it was the Crocodile, or Dragon, the national emblem.
The early Hebrews also regarded Libra as a Scale-beam,
as did the Egyptians, and it plainly appears as such on
the Denderah planisphere. "The Libra of the zodiac, "
2$2 Star Lore of All Ages
says Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities, "is perpetually
seen upon all the hieroglyphics of Egypt, which is at once
an argument of the great antiquity of this asterism, and
of the probability of its having been originally fabricated
by the astronomical sons of Misraim."
The beam was the instrument used by the Egyptians
in measuring the inundations of the Nile, and some claim
that because of this the beam was honoured by a place
among the stars.
The Egyptian symbolic head-dress which appears in
many representations of their ancient gods, as shown in the
illustration, has, according to Plunket, an astronomical
significance in which the constellation Libra figures. The
two feathers represent the equal weights of the scale of
Justice, and there also appear the horns of a goat and ram,
and the disc enclosing a scarabaeus, so that the head-
dress is really an astronomic monogram containing four
constellation figures in one, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and
Capricornus.
According to Virgil the ancient husbandmen were wont
to regard this sign as indicating the proper time for sowing
their winter grain.
But when Astrsea's balance hung on high
Betwixt the nights and days divides the sky,
Then yoke your oxen, sow your winter grain,
Till cold December comes with driving rain.
One of the early titles for Libra was Zuy<5v or Zuyoc,
the Latin "Jugum, " meaning the "yoke." This may
have had reference to the yoking of the oxen mentioned
in the poet's verses. The constellations were in general
used as perpetual almanacs , and their seasons of appearance
and disappearance were often warnings to the ancient tillers
of the soil to sow their seed or reap their harvests.
Burritt tells us that the Balance was placed among the
stars to perpetuate the memory of Mochis, the inventor
of weights and measures. Those who refer the zodiacal
Libra, the Scales 253
constellations to the twelve tribes of Israel, ascribe the
Balance to the tribe of Asher.
According to Serviss, Libra seems to be identical with
a Mayan constellation, with which was associated a temple
where dwelt a priest whose special business it was to ad-
minister justice, and to foretell the future by means of
information obtained from the spirits of the dead.
The Peruvian asterism corresponding to Libra was en-
titled "Rainbow Lightning," "Sacred or Divided River,"
and "the Earth." These titles in a measure indicate
the tempestuous nature of the weather when the sun was
in this sign.
To the early Christians, Libra represented the Apostle
Philip, and Caesius identified it with the balances of the
book of Daniel, in which Belshazzar had been weighed
and found wanting.
In astrology Libra is the House of Venus. Those born
from Sept. 23d to Oct. 23d are said to be rviledby this sign.
The natives of this constellation are tall and well made, says
Proctor, elegant in person, round faced, and ruddy but
plain featured. When old they are of sweet disposition,
just and upright in dealings. It governs the lumbar re-
gions and reigns over Austria, Alsace, Savoy, Portugal,
India, Ethiopia, Lisbon, Vienna, Frankfort, Antwerp, and
Charleston.
It is a masculine sign and fortunate. Vulcan was the
deity that watched over it. The significant flower was
the violet, the precious stone the diamond.
The southern scale meant bad fortune, the northern on
the contrary was eminently fortunate.
Only two of the stars in the constellation are specially
interesting, a Librae was called by the Arabs "Zubenel-
genubi," meaning the southern claw. It is a wide double
and culminates at 9 p.m. on the 17th of June. It marks the
Hindu lunar station signifying "Branched."
It is a curious fact that the Peruvians of the west-
ern world had in connection with Libra a ceremonial
254 Star Lore of All Ages
purification by bathing at the junction of two streams.
This would be where the stream branched out, which
shows clearly a similarity of representation respecting this
star between two widely separated peoples.
^ Librae was known by an Arab name signifying the north-
em claw. It is the only naked eye green-coloured star in
the heavens, and is an interesting variable. Eratosthenes
called it the brightest of all the stars in the Scorpion, that
is in the double constellation, and Claudius Ptolemy gives
it as equal with Antares, the brilliant first magnitude star
in the heart of the Scorpion. As it is now a full magnitude
fainter than Antares, it must have lost much of its pristine
brilliance, though there is a possibility that Antares may
have increased in brilliance. Beta has a Sirian spectrum,
and is said to be approaching our system at the rate of
six miles a second.
8 Librae is a variable star of the Algol type, discovered by
Schmidt in 1859, with a period of nearly two days and eight
hours.
The constellation is easily identified as its four principal
stars form a fairly conspicuous quadrilateral figure. About
twenty-two centuries ago this constellation coincided with
the sign Libra, but owing to the Precession of the Equinoxes
it has advanced thirty degrees on the ecliptic, and the con-
stellation Scorpio is now in the sign Sagittarius and so on.
T^e Sg^ftttin Syr^bsiit, //ed'^-c^res^.
Lyra
The Lyre
«55
Draco ^y^
Alblreo
LYRA
Sheliak, a variable
Over /
-i- /
Head •
In.
P
LYRA
LYRA
THE LYRE
The Lyre whose strings give music audible
To holy ears.
Lowell.
In mythology Lyra is the celestial harp invented by
Hermes, which Apollo or Mercury gave to Orpheus, the
skilled musician of the Argonautic expedition.
There are many references among the poets to the won-
derful talent of this harpist. Shakespeare says of him:
Everything that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea
Hung their heads and then lay by.
And again in the Two Gentlemen of Verona we read:
For Orpheus' lute was strung with poet's sinews ;
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stone,
Made tigers tame, and huge leviathans
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands.
It is related that Orpheus even descended to the infernal
regions, and charmed Pluto, the King of Hell, with the
music of his harp, so that he won from Pluto his lost bride,
Eurydice; but as the legend goes, lost her again, by looking
backward which he had been forbidden to do as he emerged
from Hades. After his death he received divine honours,
and his lyre became one of the constellations.
Max Muller identifies Orpheus with the Sanscrit
" Arbhu," used as a title for the stm. According to this ex-
planation, the sun follows Eurydice, "the wide-spreading
flush of the dawn, who has been stxmg by the serpent
17 257
258 Star Lore of All Ages
of night," into the regions of darkness. There he recov-
ers Eurydice, but while he looks back upon her she fades
before his gaze, as the mists of the morning vanish before
the glory of the rising sun.
Cox found in the music of Orpheus the delicious strains
of the breezes which accompany sunrise and sunset.
Mrs. Martin thus delightfully refers to Lyra: "It is
easy to get some sense of the fancy that gave the con-
stellation its name as we watch it during the lovely spring
evenings, floating lightly in the sky, the parallel lines con-
necting its principal stars vaguely suggestive to the willing
mind of some quaint stringed instrument that under a
magic touch might send out heavenly music through the
resonant air."
Lyra has also borne tlie title "the harp of Arion, " rvrion
being a famous musician of the court of Periander, King
of Corinth. The fable relates that, returning from Sicily,
he was about to be thrown overboard by the sailors, when
he requested permission to play his harp. This request
being granted, presently dolphins appeared, enchanted by
the sweet strains, and when Arion plunged into the sea,
the dolphins, so it is said, bore him safe to land.
Brown tells us that the Hellenic myth connected with
Lyra is the comparatively late story of Hermes (the Lord
of Cloud) as the inventor of the Lyre from the tortoise,
which is related in the Homeric Hymn.
The earlier history of the constellation is twofold, Euphra-
tean and Phoenician. In the valley of the Euphrates it
was originally one of the three birds opposed to Herakles.
Thus its principal star, Vega, was known as "the Falling
Grype." According to an Arab commentator on Ulugh
Beg, s and t, Lyrae represent the two wings of the Grype,
by drawing in which he let himself down to the earth.
On the Phoenician side Lyra is a musical instrument.
Aratos names it "Xelus" (the little tortoise or shell), thus
going back, says Allen, to the legendary origin of the in-
strument, from the empty covering of the creature cast
Photo by Anderson
Orpheus and Eurydice
Villa Albani, Rome
Lyra, the Lyre 259
upon the shore with the dried tendons stretched across
it.
Blake offers the following explanation of the connection
of this figure with the tortoise: "At the probable time
when the name of the constellation was composed, and the
figure invented, Vega, the chief star in the constellation,
may have been very near the Pole of the heavens, and there-
fore have had a slow motion, and hence it might have been
named ' the Tortoise, ' and this in Greek would easily be
interpreted into Lyre."
This double meaning of the word seems certainly to have
given rise to the fable of Mercury having constructed a /
lyre out of the back of a tortoise.
There was also a notion that the Lyre' was placed in the
sky near Herctdes for the alleviation of his toil. There is
the following interesting note on the Lyre by Burritt:
"The lyre was a famous stringed instrument much used
by the ancients, said to have been invented by Mercury
about the year of the world 2000, though some ascribe the
invention to Jubal. It is universally allowed that the lyre
was the first instrument of the stringed kind used in Greece.
The different lyres at various periods of time had from four
to eighteen strings each. The modern lyre is the Welsh
harp. The lyre among painters is an attribute of Apollo
and the Muses."
Emphasis seems to be laid on the mystic number seven
in this constellation, as in the stars of Ursa Major, and the
Pleiades, for the Lyre was mentioned by Ovid as having
seven strings. Our Longfellow thus sings of it:
I saw with its celestial keys
Its chords of air, its frets of fire,
The Samian's great ^olian Lyre,
Rising through all the sevenfold bars,
From earth unto the fix6d stars.
In Bohemia our Lyre was " the Fiddle in the Sky. " The
ancient Britons called it "King Arthur's Harp," and the
26o Star Lore of All Ages
Persians "a Lyre." Novidius said it was "King David's
Harp," and Schiller curiously enough thought that the
constellation represented "the Manger," the birthplace of
the infant Saviour.
Allen says that the association of Lyra's stars with a bird
perhaps originated from a conception of the figiire current
for millenniums in ancient India, that of an eagle or vulture.
The Arabs called Lyra "the Swooping Eagle," to dis-
tinguish it from Aquila, which was regarded as " the Flying
Eagle." Lyra has also been likened to a "Goose," an
" Osprey, " a " Wood Falcon, " and a " Kite. " The Hindus
figured the stars a, e, and X, Lyras as a triangle, or as the
three-cornered nut of an aquatic plant.
Notwithstanding the singularly diverse ideas as to the
figures represented by this star group, the name generally
applied to it has been "Lyra," and the figure so shown
from ancient times. Roman coins still in existence show
it thus. According to Dr. Seiss, Lyra symbolises the
rejoicing in heaven at the final victory over the powers
of evil. To the early Christians Lyra represented the
Saviour's Manger, and David's Harp.
From this constellation radiate the swift meteors known
as "the Lyrids." The maximum of the shower is on the
19th and 20th of April.
Lyra is noted because of its lucida, the brilliant Vega,
" the glory of the summer heavens. "
The poet thus sings of Lyra and Vega:
One of these illuminates
The heavens far around, blazing imperial
In the first order.
The Arabs called Vega "the Falling Vulture." It has
also been called "the Harp Star," and "the Arc-light of
the Sky."
It has a decided bluish tint, and is one of the most beauti-
ful stars in the northern hemisphere.
jK
1',
fP
1# ^
^^H ^
^tjf^'- "^^Hi ^M^M
^^^^B
^^^^g '-^-
iB
A^M
f ^ if
■Mk ^M %:^ [,:j
Photo by Anderson
Mercury, by Rubens
Gallery of the Prado, Madrid
Lyra, the Lyre 261
Manilius, who wrote in the age of Augustus, thus alludes
to Vega:
One, placed in front above the rest, displays
A vigorous light and darts surprising rays.
Among Latin writers Vega was called " Lyra" in classical
days.
Azure Lyra, like a woman's eye
Biuning with soft blue lustre.
WilUs.
The Romans made much of this star, for the beginning
of their autumn was indicated by its morning setting.
Brown writes of it:
"At one time Vega was the Pole Star, and known to the
Akkadai as 'the Life of Heaven,' and to the Assyrians as
'the Judge of Heaven.'"
The Chinese and Japanese call Vega "the Spinning
Maiden," or "the Girl with a Shuttle." She was supposed
to stand at one end of the magpie bridge, over the Milky
Way, awaiting her lover. This legend was related in con-
nection with the history of the constellation Aquila.
Lockyer claims that some of the temples at Denderah
in Egypt were oriented to Vega as early as 7000 B.C.
Owing to the phenomena of Precession, Vega will be
the Pole Star 11,500 years hence.
It is almost in a direct line towards this blazing blue
stm that the solar system is flying through space at the
rate of twelve or fifteen miles a second. This goal of our
stm and its family of planets is known as "the Apex of the
Sun's Way." The accompanying diagram indicates its
location according to different authorities. See p. 263.
Vega is the second brightest star to be seen in this lati-
tude, Sirius alone surpassing it in splendour. In spite of
its great brilliance, Vega is not one of our near neighbours.
According to Peck it is eighteen light years distant, some
authorities say twenty-nine. If the distance from the earth
to the sun is regarded as one foot, that from Vega would be
262 Star Lore of All Ages
158 miles, and if our sun occupied the place of Vega, it
would appear to us as a faint point of light just visible to
the naked eye. Vega is said to surpass our sun in brilliance
a hundredfold, and is approaching our system at the rate
of 9.5 miles a second.
"It is a young orb," says Serviss, "blazing with the
white fire of stellar youth, dazzling the eye with the strange
splendour of its gem-like rays, which possess the piercing
quality of the reflections from a blue- white diamond."
Mrs. Martin pays the following tribute to this azure-
tinted sun:
"About three hours after Arcturus has risen there will
come peeping over the north-eastern horizon a brilliant,
bluish star which twinkles so gaily and commands such
instant admiration that its entrance into view has almost
a dramatic effect. This is Vega, the third of the trio of
bright stars that give a May-dance around the pole. . . .
Early in May the star rises at about the same hour that
the sun sets, and all summer long it is the gayest and per-
haps the most instantly attractive star in the evening
skies. . . . Vega has a companion star, much smaller
than itself, revolving around it, which is of the same beau-
tiful bluish colour as the larger star. The companion
is of about the tenth magnitude and can be seen only
with a large telescope. Vega is about four thousand times
brighter than her companion."
Vega is visible at some hour of every clear night through-
out the year and culminates at 9 p.m., Aug. 12th.
^ Lyras, known to the Arabs as " Sheliak, " is a noted vari-
able. Goodricke in 1784 was the first to detect changes
in its brilliancy, and Argelander carefully observed the star
for nineteen years, 1840 to 1859. Its period is 12 days
21^ hours, though it has remarkable and unexplained
variations in light. Scheiner says of it, "There is great
probability that more than two bodies are concerned in the
case of ^ Lyrae. " This star is one of ten that are said to be
pear-shaped, a fact that may account for its light variations.
Lyra, the Lyre 263
Between ^ and y Lyrae is the wonderful ' ' Ring Nebula. " It
is the only annular nebula visible through small telescopes.
e Lyrae is the celebrated "double double star," a star
almost a naked eye double, and each of these stars is in
turn double. A three-inch telescope with a power of 130
will separate these stars.
Y Lyras, 23^" east of ^ was known as " Sulafat," one of the
early titles of the constellation. Another name for it was
" Jugum," It is a bright yellow star of the 3.3 magnitude.
The remaining stars in the constellation are of no special
interest.
iVe^a
LYRA
□
HERCULES
+ %
O
^ THe LATEST AM O BCST OCTEKMINATtON
A " LOCATION ACCOROIN6 ToSTRUVE
Q •. o * • AR6£LAN0£R
X •• • " « Herschel
+ « • ... Main
j^ . • • •• KArrcYH
APEX OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Ring Nebula in Lyra
Ophiuchus or Serpentarius, the Serpent
Bearer and Serpens, the Serpent
265
Corona Borealis
^ In
"Bas^AIba^ue
8
6"
•v Bailor
N Poniatowslda
3
3 /^ S
S92/
TJnukal Hay A
c»: I / »
•'^"•.iS.
^^ in Scorpio
OPHIUCHUS
OPHIUCHUS OR SERPENTARIUS, THE
SERPENT-BEARER,
AND SERPENS, THE SERPENT
Thee, Serpentarius, we behold distinct,
With seventy-four reftdgent stars.
EUDOSIA.
The title "Ophiuchus" is derived from the Greek words
6(fi and ouxo?, meaning the man that holds the serpent.
According to Plunket the constellation was probably in-
vented about 3500 B.C. in latitude 35° north. "At this
time the constellation would have been in opposition to the
sun at the season of the spring equinox, triumphing over
the powers of darkness, namely the Scorpion, on which the
giant Ophiuchus treads, and the Serpent which he crushes
in his hands."
Of all the constellational figures, Hercules and Ophiuchus
are perhaps the most remarkable in conception and design,
for they are each clearly intended to be combined with star
groups which from time immemorial have been universally
considered to represent serpents. They are the only two
constellations that seem identical in design, and in these
ancient constellations we see clearly a desire on the part of
primitive man to place on record, for all the ages to read,
the great fact of the triumph of man over the serpent,
the symbol of the powers of evil.
Krishna, one of the most revered gods of India, is often
represented as standing with one foot on a serpent's head,
and holding it up by the tail, a reduplication of the
figures and the ideas embodied in the constellation figures,
Hercules and Ophiuchus.
On the old maps, Ophiuchus is represented as a venerable
267
268 Star Lore of All Ages
man, having both hands clenched in the folds of a great
serpent which is writhing in his grasp with its head close
to the Crown; whence the Serpent is often said "to be lick-
ing the Crown." The constellation is of great antiquity,
as the records show that it was known to the ancients twelve
hundred years before the Christian era. Homer refers to
it, and Aratos clearly describes the figure in the following
lines:
His feet stamp Scorpion down, enormous beast,
Crushing the monster's eye and platted breast.
With outstretched arms he holds the Serpent's coils,
His limbs it folds within its scaly toils,
With his right hand its writhing tail he grasps,
Its swelling neck his left securely clasps,
The reptile rears its crested head on high,
Reaching the seven-starred Crown in Northern sky.
There is something remarkable in the central position of
this constellation. It is situated almost exactly in the mid-
heavens, being nearly equidistant from the Poles, and mid-
way between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The
commanding location of the constellation makes the figure
and its intended representation especially significant.
Manilius thus refers to the Serpent-Bearer :
Next Ophiuchus strides the mighty snake.
Untwists his winding folds and smooths his back,
Extends his bulk, and o'er the slippery scale
His wide stretched hands on either side prevail.
The snake turns back his head and seems to rage
That war must last where equal power prevails.
In Greek mythology Ophiuchus was the great physician
.^sculapius, with whose worship serpents were always
associated, as symbols of prudence, wisdom, renovation,
and the power of discovering herbs, and the constellation
was often called " yEsculapius " or "the god of medicine."
^sculapius was said to have been educated by his father
Apollo, or by the centaur Chiron, and was the earliest
Ophiuchus and Serpens 269
of his profession, and accompanied the Argonautic expedi-
tion. Afterwards he became so skilled in practice that it
is said he even restored the dead to life. His success in this
latter achievement so alarmed Pluto that he persuaded
Zeus to remove ^sculapius to the sky.
One of the last acts of Socrates was to offer a cock to
^sculapius, and the cock and serpent were ever sacred to
this great physician. He was worshipped at Epidaurus,
a city of Peloponnesus, and hence he is styled by Milton,
"the god in Epidaurus."
In his Paradise Lost, Milton thus refers to Ophiuchus: '
the length of Ophiuchus huge.
In the Middle Ages, the Serpent-Bearer was sometimes
regarded as symboUsing Moses with the Brazen Serpent,
and Golius insisted that this sky figure represented a Ser-
pent Charmer. Al-Sufi's title, "le Psylle," meaning one
skilled in the cure of snake bites, seems to confirm this
view.
Ophiuchus is also identified with Laocoon, the priest
of Neptune, who during the siege of Troy was attacked and
strangled by sea serpents, for his irreverent treatment of
the wooden horse.
Pliny regarded the stars in this constellation as danger-
ous to mankind, occasioning much mortality by poisoning.
The Serpent- Bearer has also been thought to represent
Saint Paul, with the Maltese viper, Aaron, whose staff
became a serpent. Saint Benedict, and the Great Physician.
The constellation is noted for the number of new stars
(novce) which have appeared within its borders, — one in
1230, "Kepler's Star" in 1604, and one in 1848. It would
seem as if this part of the sky shoiild be especially observed.
Hill calls attention to the fact, that, although Ophiuchus
is not one of the zodiacal constellations, yet out of the
twenty-five days from Nov. 21st to Dec. i6th, which the
sun spends in passing from Libra to Sagittarius, only nine
270 Star Lore of All Ages
are spent in the Scorpion, the other sixteen being occupied
in its journey through Ophiuchus.
Ophiuchus contains the discarded asterism known as
"the Bull of Poniatowski, " the Polish Btdl. It consists
of but four stars, three of the fourth magnitude, and one of
the fifth, situated about fifteen minutes east of the star y
Ophiuchi. One of the stars in this group (70) is an inter-
esting binary with a period of about eighty-eight years.
This star is estimated to be 120 quadrillions of miles away.
Prey finds that the fainter of the two stars has four times
the mass of the brighter star.
a Ophiuchi, known to the Arabs as "Ras Alhague,"
meaning the "Head of the Serpent Charmer," is a second
magnitude star six degrees east of a Herculis. In China it
was known as "How," the "Duke." It is said to be re-
ceding from the earth at the rate of twelve miles a second,
and culminates at 9 p.m. July 28th.
^ Ophiuchi was named " Cebalrai," or " Cheleb," meaning
"the Heart of the Shepherd," the stars a Ophiuchi and a
Herculis representing the shepherd and his dog.
Of the four reptiles that are found among the constel-
lation figures, Serpens is the Serpent. Statius thus writes
of it:
Vast as the starry serpent that on high
Tracks the clear ether and divides the sky,
And southward winding from the northern Wain
Shoots to remoter spheres its glittering train.
Burritt tells us that the Hivites of the Old Testament
were worshippers of the Serpent, and that this idolatry
was extremely ancient. Serpens was identified with Eve's
temple in the Garden of Eden, and in the astronomy of
Arabia it was known as "the Snake," although before the
Hellenic influence was felt in Arabia, the stars in this region
of the heaven were regarded by the Arabs as representing
a pasture.
The Hebrews knew this star group as "the Serpent,"
Photo by Anderson
Laocoon
Museum of Vatican, Rome
Ophiuchus and Serpens 271
from the earliest times. The space between v and e Ser-
pentis was called by the Chinese "the Enclosure of the
Heavenly Market."
The head of the Serpent is represented by an " X "-shaped
group of stars, just south of the Northern Crown, which
serves to identify the figure.
None of the stars in the Serpent is of special interest.
Orion
The Giant Hunter
i8 273
O Alhena
in '
Gemini
1 Aldebanas
^ Taurus
The
Liou'a
SUu
ORION
THE GIANT HUNTER
Orion kneeling in his starry niche.
Lowell.
The constellation Orion has been the admiration of all
ages, and vies with Ursa Major and the famous Pleiades
m historical and mythological interest. Itjs beyond ques-
tion the most brilliant of the constellations, containing
as it does two stars of the first magnitude, and four of the
second. With the exception of the " Dipper, " the so-called
"Belt of Orion" is probably the best known and most popu-
lar of all stellar objects.
The constellation is visible from every part of the globe,.
and the poets of all nations have sung its praises. Ma-
nilius pays the following tribute to the mighty hunter:
Now near the twins behold Orion rise,
His arms extended measure half the skies:
His stride no less. Onward with steady face.
He treads the boundless realms of starry space,
On each broad shoulder a bright gem displayed
While three obliquely grace his mighty blade.
And again he sings :
Orion's beams, Orion's beams:
His star gemmed belt and shining blade
His isles of light, his silver streams,
And glowing gulfs of mystic shade.
Shelley in his Revolt of Islam wrote:
While far Orion o'er the waves did walk
That flow among the isles.
Lucy Larcom contributes :
275
276 Star Lore of All Ages
Orion with his glittering belt and sword
Gilded since time has been, while time shall be.
And Longfellow thus alludes to this beautifvil constellation:
Begirt with many a blazing star
Stood the great giant Algebar
Orion, hunter of the beast.
His sword hung gleaming by his side.
Hesiod wrote;
When strong Orion chases to the deep the Virgin stars.
Tennyson refers to the constellation in his Locksley Hall,
Maud, and The Princess, and Spenser describes the setting
of Orion in these words :
And now in ocean deep
Orion flying fast from hissing snake
His flaming head did hasten for to steep.
Much doubt and mystery surround the title of the con-
stellation. Brown, one of the most reliable authorities,
is of the opinion that it is from "Uru-anna, " meaning the
"light of heaven," and that the title originated in the Eu-
phratean Valley.
It seems reasonably certain that a star group of such
prominence should have attracted attention from the ear-
liest times, and that this constellation therefore is of great
antiqtiity.
Maunder tells us that the word from which Orion was
derived was " Kesil, " a word which occurs in an astronomi-
cal sense four times in the Bible. The Hebrew word " Kesil"
signifies "a fool," meaning a godless and impious person.
In the Scriptures this word is associated with a word which,
translated, refers to the Pleiades, sometimes likened to a
flock of doves.
We have, therefore, in the figure of Orion, a mighty giant
represented as trampling on a timid hare, and pursuing
Orion, the Giant Hunter 277
a flock of inoffensive doves, certainly a strange and in-
congruous association of figures.
Maunder claims that it was intense irony for the Hebrews
to designate as " a fool" the constellation that the Babylon-
ians had deified, and made their supreme god, and styled
"the Mighty Hunter."
Orion has been identified with Merodach, probably the
first King of Babylonia, and with the Nimrod of the Scrip-
tures, "the mighty hunter before the Lord, " known also as
"the mighty one in the earth," a variant of Merodach.
Several Assyriologists consider that the constellations
Orion and Cetus represent the struggle between Merodach
and Tiamat. In support of this view, it may be said that
Tiamat is expressly identified on a Babylonian tablet with
a constellation near the ecliptic.
Maunder thinks that the view that has come down to us
through the Greeks concerning Orion agrees much better
with the associations of the constellations as held among
the Hebrews rather than amongst the Babylonians. Ac-
cording to the Greek legend, Orion pursued the Pleiades*^
which were considered doves or virgins, and was confronted
by the Bull. Cetus was not involved in the struggle, but
was engaged in a combat with Perseus.
There is in the threatening attitude of the Mighty Hunter
as he stands facing the advancing Bull, carrying
... on his arm the lion's hide,
to ward off an attack, and his club raised to strike a blow,
every indication of an attempt on the part of the inventor
of the constellation to indicate a conflict to the death be-
tween Orion and the Bull.
The figure of the Hare crouching beneath the Hunter's
foot is also significant. The hare has always been associ-
ated in folk-lore with the moon, and as Brown points out,
Orion as "the light of heaven" is clearly identified with the
sun. Here we have, many think, a figure symbolical of
278 Star Lore of All Ages
the perpetual strife between the powers of light and dark-
ness, in which the former ever prevails.
Plunket claims 4667 B.C. as the date of the invention
of this constellation. Orion at that time accurately marked
the equinoctial colure, but others have thought that 2000
B.C. was the more probable date, as at that time the so-
called "Belt of Orion" began to be visible before dawn in
the month of June, called "Tammuz," and Orion was
known to the Chaldeans as "Tammuz."
As the death of Adonis is celebrated in the month Tam-
muz, Miss Gierke is of the opinion that Orion received this
name because its annual emergence from the solar beams
coincided with the mystical mourning for the vernal sun.
"Altogether the evidence is strong," says Miss Gierke,
"that Orion may be considered as a variant of Adonis,
imported into Greece from the East at an early date, and
there associated with the identical group of stars which
commemorated to the Akkads of old, the fate of Tammuz,
the 'only Son of Heaven.'"
Homer describes Orion as the "tallest and most beautiful
man," which description well befits Adonis.
According to Brown, Orion like Bootes was regarded as
a shepherd, the keeper of the flock of stars, and one of his
titles was "Shepherd Spirit of Heaven."
Orion was also known as "the Lord of the River Bank, "
an appropriate name as regards his location close by Erid-
anus, the River Po.
In mythology Orion is connected with the constellation
of the Scorpion, and it is related that Orion boasted that
there was not an animal on earth which he could not con-
quer. To punish his vanity, it is said, a scorpion sprang
out of the earth and bit his foot, causing his death. At the
request of Diana he was placed among the stars opposite
his slayer.
Ovid agrees with this version, but Hyginus, Homer, and
Apollodorus claim that Orion was killed by Diana's darts,
and that he was placed in the sky opposite the Scorpion so
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1 In
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Orion, the Giant Hunter 279
that " he might escape in the West as the reptile rose in the
East." _.
When the Scorpion comes
Orion flees to utmost end of earth.
The Hindus connect in a legend, Aldebaran, the red star
in the eye of the Bull, Sirius, known to them as "the Deer-
slayer, "and Orion, which they regard as "a Stag." The
story is as follows: "The Lord of created beings fell in
love with his daughter. She took the form of a dove and
fled. He thereupon changed himself into a stag and pursued
her, but was shot by Sirius, who was selected by the indig-
nant gods to slay him. "
The three stars in the head of the Mighty Hunter con-
stitute one of the Hindu lunar stations known as "the
antelope's head, " in accordance with this myth.
Another legend concerning Orion relates that he was
the^over of Merope, daughter of (Enopion, King of Chios.
His suit was frowned upon, so he attempted to elope with
the fair object of his affections. The King, however, dis-
covered his perfidy, and drugging him, put out his eyes,
and left him alone on the seashore. Following the sound
of a hammer, Orion, it is said, made his way to the forge
of Vulcan, where he besought assistance. Vulcan placed
him on the shoulders of a Cyclops, who carried him to the
top of a mountain, where, facing the rising sim, he received
his sight.
... he
Reeled as of yore beside the sea
When blinded by CEnopion,
He sought the blacksmith at his forge
And climbing up the narrow gorge
Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun.
Longfellow.
This legend connects Orion with the Sun-god, and the
title he sometimes bears, "Light of Heaven."
There is an analogous myth of the moon-goddess con-
28o Star Lore of All Ages
nected with Orion: The moon-goddess fell in love with
the Giant Hunter. The sun-god did not approve of him,
and resolved to bring about his destruction. As Orion was
bathing, the sun-god poured his golden rays upon him, and
called on the moon-goddess to test her skill in archery by
shooting at the gleaming mark. The moon-goddess winged
a shaft, and slew Orion, her lover, hidden in the brilliant
light. Distracted she appealed to Jove, who placed Orion
in the sky so that the moon-goddess might gaze upon him
as she sails in her silver chariot.
Still another story relates that Orion was bom like Athena
without a mother, and became a famous iron worker, so
skillful that Vulcan employed him to build a palace imder
the sea.
Orion was always regarded as a stormy constellation
from the fact of its setting in the late autumn. Thus
JEneas accounts for the storm which cast him on the African
coast, on his way to Italy:
To that blest shore we steer'd our destined way
When suddenly dire Orion rous'd the sea. ''
Again we read:
Tell him that charg'd with deluges of rain
Orion rages on the wintry main.
The constellation's stormy character, says Allen, ap-
peared in early Hindu, and perhaps even in earlier Euphra-
tean days, and is seen everywhere among classical writers,
with allusions to its direfid influence.
Poly bios, the Greek historian of the second century
before Christ, attributed the loss of the Roman squadron
in the first Punic War to its having sailed just after "the
rising of Orion."
Hesiod long before wrote of the same rising:
then the winds war loud,
And veil the ocean with a sable cloud.
And Milton wrote:
Photo by Anderson
Diana
Capitoline Museum, Rome
Orion, the Giant Hunter 281
When with fierce winds Orion arrived
Hath vexed the Red Sea coast.
Hesiod also lays it down that the rising of Orion is the
season for threshing :
Forget not when Orion first appears
To make your servants thresh the sacred ears;
and points to the time when Orion is in the mid-heavens
as proper for the vintage. He also directs the husbandmen
to plough at the setting of this constellation, and warns
navigators to avoid the dangers of the sea, when the Plei-
ades, flying from Orion, are lost in the waves.
The Syrians and Arabians knew Orion as "the Giant."
To the early Arabs, Orion was "Al-Jauzah," often erro-
neously translated "Giant," says Allen. Originally this
was the term used for a black sheep with a white spot in
the middle of the body, and this may have become the
designation for the middle figure of the heavens, which,
from its pre-eminent brilliancy, always has been a centre
of attraction.
In Egypt, the soul of Osiris was said to rest in the con-
stellation Orion, and in the round zodiac of the temple of
Denderah there is a mythological figure of a cow in a boat
identified as Sirius, and near it another mythological figure
which has been proved, according to Lrockyer, to represent
the constellation Orion.
• Allen says that the Egyptians represented Orion as
Horus, the young or rising sun, in a boat surmounted by
stars, and as "Sahu" in the great Ramessetmi of Thebes,
about 3285 B.C.
Orion was an extremely important constellation in Egypt,
because it preceded and announced the approaching rise
of Sirius, which in turn heralded the inundation of the Nile.
According to a Jewish tradition, this constellation was
appropriated to himself by a particularly mighty man.
The Hebrews knew Orion as "the Giant," bound to the
282 Star Lore of All Ages
sky for rebellion against Jehovah, and Allen thinks that
this may be the explanation of the well-known phrase "the
Bands or Bonds of Orion. "
The Chinese called Orion "Tsan," which signifies
"Three," and corresponds to the "Three Kings," a title
sometimes applied to the three prominent stars in the
"Belt." The Chinese also knew Orion as "the White
Tiger," a title taken from the constellation Taurus, close
to Orion.
The Eskimos called Orion's Belt "Tua Tsan," a title
similar to the Chinese title, which might indicate that the
Eskimos originally came from China as has often been
contended.
The Eskimos thought that Orion represented a party
of bear-hunters, with their sledge, and the bear they were
pursuing, transported to the sky.
According to Dr. Seiss, Orion stands as a prophetic repre-
sentation of the great enemy and destroyer, death.
The early inhabitants of Ireland called Orion "the armed
King," and the Mayas, the ancient inhabitants of Yu-
catan, knew the constellation as "a Warrior," a further
instance of a similarity in stellar nomenclattu-e among
widely separated nations, a similarity that is so marked
and so often encountered as to disprove any idea of mere
coincidence.
"The rising of Orion is one of the most imposing spec-
tacles that the heavens afford," says Serviss. "No con-
stellation compares with it in brilliance. It is wonderfully
rich in telescopic objects of interest, and Flammarion calls
it 'the California of the Sky. ' "
Mrs. Martin says the group exacts more immediate
admiration because the bright stars are " clustered so closely
and symmetrically as to form a set figure of dazzling jewels,
a veritable sunburst of diamonds in the sky."
There is much of interest concerning the individual stars
in this constellation, a Orionis was known to the Arabs
as " Betelgeuze, " an abbreviation for "the armpit of the
Photo by Mansell
The Zodiac of Denderah
Orion, the Giant Hunter 283
central one." It is an irregular variable star of a rich
topaz hue, and is often called "the Martial Star."
. . . First in rank
The martial star upon the shoulder flames.
In astrology this star denoted military or civic honotirs.
Mrs. Martin describes Betelgeuze as "suggestive of som-
breness in its dull and comparatively unt winkling face.**
Allen tells us that the title "Roarer" or "Announcer"
is also applied to this star, as heralding the rising of its
companions.
Betelgeuze marks the 6th Hindu lunar station known
as "Ardra, " meaning "moist." In this title we see an
allusion to the stormy character of the constellation, and
when this star rose the rainy season set in.
Sayce and Bosanquet identify Betelgeuze with the Eu-
phratean "Gula, " and Brown says the constellation of
"the King" or "Ungal" refers to a, y, and X Orionis. In
the Euphratean star Hst we find Betelgeuze styled "Lugal"
(the King) . The similarity in these titles ' ' Gula, " " Ungal ' '
and "Lugal" is strikingly suggestive.
Secchi makes Betelgeuze a typical star of his third class
with banded spectra, suggesting that it may be approaching
the point of extinction. According to Vogel it is receding
from our system at the rate of 10.5 miles a second, and
culminates at 9 p.m. Jan. 29th.
^ Orionis is known to us as "Rigel," the Arab title from
which it came meaning "the left leg of the Jauzah, or
Giant." Another name for it is "Algebar," a corruption
of " Al-Jabbah, " the "mighty one. " It is a brilliant white
star, and ranks fifth in order of brightness of all the stars
visible in this latitude.
In astrology Rigel denotes splendours and honours.
In the Norseland, Rigel marked out the great toe of
Orwandil, the other toe having been broken off by the god
Thor, when frost-bitten, and thrown to the northern sky,
284 Star Lore of All Ages
where it became the little star Alcor in the handle of "the
Dipper."
Rigel is receding from our system at the rate of ten miles
a second. Newcomb estimated that it exceeds our sun in
brilliance not less than ten thousand times. It is a double
star, the companion being of the ninth magnitude, and blue
in colour, but it is diffictdt to glimpse in a small telescope
owing to the lustre of its primary. /
Y Orionis is known as "Bellatrix," the "Female Warrior,"
and "the Amazon Star." It is pale yellow in colour, and
of the second magnitude. One Arab title for it was "the
Roaring Conqueror," or "the Conquering Lion." It marks
the left shoulder of the Giant.
AUen tells us that in an Amazon River myth, Bellatrix
figures as a young boy in a canoe witJi an old man, repre-
sented by the star Betelgeuze. They are said to be chasing
the Peixie Boi, a dark spot in the sky near Orion.
In astrology Bellatrix was the natal star of all destined
to great civil or military honours, and rendered all women
born under its influence lucky and loquacious.
It is said to be receding from our system at the rate of
five miles a second.
The three so-called "Belt Stars," of the second magnitude,
in the centre of the parallelogram which renders the con-
stellation conspicuous, have excited the attention of all
ages, and many have been the titles bestowed on them.
They are S, e, and ^ Orionis, and bear the Arab names,
"Mintaka," the "Belt," "AlnHam," the " String of Pearls "
and "Alnitak," the "Girdle," respectively.
S Orionis is a double star, 23' of arc south of the celestial
equator, s Orionis is a leading example of stars of the hot-
test class. Its temperature has been estimated to be 45 ,000
degrees F.
In astrology these three stars portended good fortune
and pubHc honours. Job's name for them was "the Bands
of Orion," while the Arabs knew them as "the Golden
Nuts," or "the String of Pearls." The fierce Masai
Orion, the Giant Hunter 285
African tribe regarded these stars and those representing
the sword of Orion, hanging from the Belt, as "three old
widows following up three old men. "
The Basuto tribe called the Belt stars "Three Pigs."
They have also been known as "the Three Kings," "the
Ell," and "the Yard," on account of the line joining them
being just three degrees long.
Tennyson thus refers to these stars:
Those three stars of the airy Giant's zone
That gUtter burnished by the frosty dark.
The Germans designated them " Jacobstaff , " "the StafiE
of St. James," and "the Three Mowers."
The Chinese knew them as "a weighing beam," with the
stars in the sword as a weight at one end.
The Greenlanders called them "the Seal Hunters," be-
wildered when lost at sea, and transferred together to the
sky; and to the Eskimos these stars represented the three
steps cut in a steep snow bank by some celestial Eskimo
to enable him to reach the top.
The early Hindus called these stars "the three-jointed
arrow," and the native Australians regarded them as "young
men dancing."
In comparatively modem times, 1807, the University of
Leipsic, disregarding all ancient appellations, christened
these famous stars "Napoleon." An Englishman retali-
ated by calling them "Nelson," but these names have not
been recognised by the world at large, nor do they appear
on star maps or globes.
Seamen have called these stars "the Golden Yard
Arm."
Tennyson simply referred to them as "the three
stars."
In mythology they represent the arrow that despatched
Orion. Other names for them are "The Rake," "the
Three Marys," and "Our Lady's Wand."
286 Star Lore of All Ages
A Kne drawn through them and prolonged southward
passes near the brilliant and famous Sirius. ^
Three fainter stars in this constellation have also at-
tracted world-wide attention. They form a small triangle
and are located in the head of the mighty hunter. The
brightest is X Orionis, a double star. Its Arab name,
"Meissa," means "the Head of the Giant." The original
name for the star, says Allen, meant "a white spot."
In astrology these three stars were unfortunate in their
influence on human affairs. They constituted the Euphra-
tean lunar station known as "the Little Twins," and the
Hindu station called "the Head of the Stag."
In China these stars were known as "the Head of the
Tiger." Manilius thus refers to them:
In the vast head immerst in boundless spheres
Three stars less bright but yet as great he bears,
But further off remov'd, their splendours lost.
Colas mentions an interesting fact in connection with the
triangle formed by these stars, which reveals a cturent
optical delusion. No ordinary observer would imagine
that the moon could be contained in this triangle, but such
is the fact, for the moon, which to the uninstructed observer
appears about the size of "a dinner plate," should be seen
as a circle a half -inch in diameter fifty-seven inches away.
a Orionis is a glorious multiple star, possibly the finest
example of its type.
Serviss in his delightftd book, The Pleasures of the Tele-
scope, thus extols the praises of a Orionis: "He must be
a person of indifferent mind who after looking with un-
assisted eyes at the modest glimmering of this Uttle star,
can see it as the telescope reveals it without a thrill of wonder
and a cry of pleasure. The glass, as by a touch of magic,
* f Orionis is deserving of mention. It is a triple star, the second
largest star being of such a pecviliar colour as to defy description.
Struve called it "ruddy-olive."
Great Nebula in Orion
Harvard College Observatory
Orion, the Giant Hunter 287
changes it from one into eight or ten stars, and these stars
exhibit a variety of beautiful colours charming to behold.
However we look at them, there is an appearance of associ-
ation among these stars, shining with their contrasted colours
and their various degrees of brilliance, which is significant
of diversity of conditions and circumstances under which
the suns and worlds beyond the solar walk exist."
It remains to mention what is probably the most
interesting telescopic object, and certainly the most satis-
factory to view of its kind in all the heavens, the Great
Nebula in Orion. It is situated in the so-called "Sword"
of the Giant which hangs pendent from the Belt, and sur-
rounds the star 0 Orionis. No description can give an ade-
quate picture of the sight of this wonderful object even in a
small telescope. The star 6 is divided by the telescope into
six stars, four of which can be seen with fairly low power,
and compose the well-known "Trapezium."
The nebtda itself covers a space equal to the apparent
size of the moon, but nebulosity extends over a much
greater area. Its spectrum is purely gaseous, and its mass
is said to be 4.5 milHon times that of the sun.
Serviss thus refers to it: "Nowhere else in the heavens
is the architecture of a nebula so clearly displayed. It is an
unfinished temple whose gigantic dimensions, while exalting
the imagination, proclaim the omnipotence of its builder.
But though unfinished it is not abandoned. The work
of creation is proceeding within its precincts. There are
stars apparently completed, shining like gems just dropped
from the hand of the polisher, and arotmd them are masses,
eddies, cturents, and swirls of nebulous matter yet to be
condensed, compacted, and constructed into suns. It is
an education in the nebular theory of the universe merely
to look at this spot with a good telescope. If we do not
gaze at it long and wistfully, and return to it many times
with unflagging interest, we may be certain that there is not
the making of an astronomer in us. "
A fitting conclusion to this sketch of Orion and its stars,
288 Star Lore of All Ages
is a quotation from Mrs. Martin's Friendly Stars re-
specting the constellation: "With all its wonders and its
beauties it is not strange that Orion should be one of the most
familiar and most admired of all the constellations. It
is in the centre of the Galaxy that marches in brilliant
procession across the winter skies. We watch for it between
nine and ten o'clock in the evening late in October, and otu*
first view is of the curved line of faint twinkling stars that
outline the left arm and the lion's skin.
Then one jewel after another emerges from the storehouse
below the horizon until the whole splendid figure is before
us. Its arrival is an announcement that the outdoor season
is past and that the nights are becoming more and more
frosty and that the gorgeous tapestry with which the autumn
hills seem covered will soon fade away and give place to the
lovely low tones of winter. "
Pegasus
The Flying Horse
19
289
Doubl*
Alpheratz
Andromeda / a
Algenib
The Water Jar
of Aquasiaa
Equiileaa
PEGASUS
PEGASUS
THE FLYING HORSE
Then with nostrils wide distended, .
Breaking from his iron chain,
And unfolding far his pinions,
To those stars he soared again.
Longfellow's "Pegasus in Pound."
Only a part of the figure of a horse appears in this very
ancient constellation, and, strangely enough, the horse
is always represented reversed, with the forefeet pawing
the sky. Pegasus is therefore often referred to as "The
Demi-Horse, " or "the Half Horse, " the steed of the mighty
Nimrod.
In mythology this is the celebrated horse that sprang
from the blood of the Medusa, which dropped into the
ocean after Perseus had severed her head.
According to Hesiod he received his name from his being
bom near the sources of the ocean, the name being derived
from the Greek words xTgyat, meaning the "springs of
the ocean," or xtqyo<;, meaning "strong."
Ovid claims Mount Helicon as the home of Pegasus.
It was here that, by striking the ground sharply with his
hoof, he caused the waters to gush forth, the fabled spring
of "Hippocrene. "
The poetic steed
With beamy mane, whose hoof struck out from earth
The fount of Hippocrene.'
Bryant.
' Longfellow calls poetic inspiration "a maddening draught of Hip-
pocrene."
291
292 Star Lore of All Ages
Pegasus was tamed by Neptune or Minerva, and was a
great favourite with the Muses. He was given to Bellero-
phon, son of Glaucus, King of Ephyre, to aid him in con-
quering the Chimasra.
Bellerophon succeeded in destroying the monster, and
then attempted to fly up to heaven on his winged steed.
Jupiter, angered by his presumption, caused an insect to
sting Pegasus, which brought about the fall of his rider.
Wordsworth thus mentions the episode:
Bold Bellerophon (so Jove decreed
In wrath) fell headlong from the fields of air.
Pegasus, freed of his burden, continued his flight up
to heaven, and Jupiter accorded him a place among the
constellations.
It is said that Pegasus bears for Jupiter the lightning
and thunder.
Now heav'n his further wand 'ring flight confines,
Where, splendid with his num'rous stars, he shines.
Ovid's Fasti.
The fact that Pegasus was especially favoured by the
Muses has given rise to the expression often heard, "to
mount Pegasus," and every poet it is said must drink of
the fountain created by his hoof blow, before he can expect
to soar on Pegasean wing. As Spenser says:
Then whoso will with virtuous wing essay
To mount to heaven, on Pegasus must ride,
And with sweet Poet's verse be glorified.
Brown regards Pegasus as the steed of Poseidon, the
Charioteer, rising out of "the great deep," or "sea," as
this region of the sky was called by the ancients.
Aratos gives us the following description of the Flying
Horse :
He 's not four footed; with no hinder parts
And shown but half, rises the sacred Horse.
Photo by Anderson
Bellerophon and Pegasus at Rome
Pegasus, the Flying Horse 293
They say that he to lofty Helicon
Brought the pure spring of copious Hippocrene.
For upon Helicon no stream flowed down
Till the Horse smote it, there abundant waters
Gushed at the stamp of his fore-hoof. The shepherds
First called it Hippocrene, the Horse's Fountain.
Still from the rock it pours not far from where
The Thespians dwell; thou seest it, but the Horse
Circles in heaven and there thou must behold him.
Plunket thinks there is some support in Grecian and in
Vedic legend to be found for the opinion that the original
position of Pegasus was upright, and not reversed. Though
the Horse appears reversed on the Grecian astronomic
sphere, he does not appear so on any artistic montmient,
vase, or coin.
In the Rig- Veda we read of a swift horse belonging to the
As wins, who, it is said, filled a hundred vases with sweet
liquor, an allusion to the fount of Hippocrene.
Max MuUer has pointed out that the Aswins possessed a
horse called "Pagas," and they are represented by the
stars a and ^ Arietis. If we look at Pegasus in the sky,
and observe how closely following that constellation the
bright stars that mark the head of Aries appear, we shall
easily understand how these Aswins might have, by Vedic
bards, been imagined as possessing and driving in front
of them the swift steed Pegasus.
As Pegasus is now represented in the heavens, his hoofs
do not appear to touch any stellar representation of a
fountain or vase, but if the figure is reversed, we find that
the forefoot of the Horse wotdd be close to the water-jar
of Aquarius, the source of a great stream of water that flows
down the steeps of the southern sky.
In the Aswameda hymns in the Rig- Veda, there is a
reference to the sacrifice of a horse, and this is thought to
refer to the symbolic sacrifice of the winged Horse of the
constellation Pegasus.
Plunket thinks the legend of the fount of Hippocrene
294 Star Lore of All Ages
dates from 3000 B.C., and the invention of the constellation
a thousand years earlier.
In regard to the reversal of the figure, the general opinion
is that the figure of the Horse which has come down to us
is the original design.
There is a special significance in the star groups that com-
bine two figures in one, or depict merely half a figure.
Thus we have the constellation of the Centaur, half man,
half horse. This shows that the figiu-e of the horse was
familiar to the inventors of the constellations. In Pegasus
we find only a half horse; there certainly were plenty of
stars and space sufficient to depict the perfect figure, there-
fore there was some good reason for leaving it out.
Again, we find among the constellation figures half a
Bull, only part of a Ship, and a Sea Goat, half fish, half
goat. Whatever was the intention in thus depicting these
star groups, they certainly furnish additional evidence of
a deliberate plan in the minds of the designers and inventors
of the star pictures, as everywhere else in the starry skies
we find complete figiu'es.
A suggestion has been made, that only half the Horse
is shown because the other half is supposed to be obscured
by clouds, and that the figure thus depicted conveys a
better idea of a horse soaring to the skies. This view is
certainly a plausible one.
Allen tells us that Ptolemy mentions the wings of the
Horse as well recognised in his day. The winged horse
appears to have been a favourite decorative figure, and
appears on early Etruscan vases, and on many pieces of
pottery found in the valley of the Euphrates. It also
appears on coins of Corinth from 500 to 430 B.C. and on a
well-known Hittite seal.
The Greeks called the constellation "Ixxoc, and in the
Alphonsine Tables it was "Alatus, " meaning "winged."
Apparently at one time the foreleg of Pegasus was consider-
ably extended, as % Cygni bears an Arab name signifying
" the hoof of the horse. "
Pegasus, the Flying Horse 295
Dr. Seiss regards Pegasus as representing the Messenger
of Glad Tidings. Jewish legends made it the horse of the
mighty Nimrod, and it is also said to represent the ass on
which Christ rode in triumph into Jerusalem. Schiller
thought this figure represented St. Gabriel.
Bochart claimed that the word Pegasus is a compound
of the Phoenician "pag" or "pega," and "sus," meaning
the Bridled Horse, used for the figtirehead on a ship.
It has also been said that Pegasus was of Egyptian origin,
from "pag," to cease, and "sus," a vessel, thus symbolising
the cessation of navigation at the change of the Nile flow.
Here we find Pegasus regarded as the sky emblem of a ship
in the very place in the heavens where we should expect to
find a craft of some sort, in the part of the sky anciently
called "the Sea."
a Pegasi is known as "Markab," an Arab word for a
saddle or a ship. It might possibly be that Pegasus, a
ship, is the reduplication of Argo, the constellation Ship.
In the case of Argo, we find it stranded on a rock. Pegasus
is close to the stream pouring from the water- jar of Aqua-
rius, which may represent, as has been supposed, the Flood.
It certainly seems more logical to regard Pegasus as a ship
rather than half a horse, inasmuch as we have two equine
figures in Centaur and Sagittarius, and only one ship, Argo.
Reduplication plays such an important part in the con-
stellation designs that we might well expect to find it
applicable in the case of the Ship.
An imaginary line connecting a, p, and y Pegasi and a
Andromedas, a star common to the constellations Androm-
eda and Pegasus, forms a quadrilateral known as " the Great
Square of Pegasus," one of the stellar landmarks.
a Pegasi, or Markab, is one of the so-called lunar stars
much observed in navigation. In astrology it portended
danger to life from cuts, stabs, and fire. It is on the merid-
ian at 9 P.M. Nov. 3d.
Y Pegasi, called "Algenib," meaning the "wing" or
"side," is one of "the Three Guides," the stars that are
296 Star Lore of All Ages
situated almost on the prime meridian; the other two
guides are a Andromedae and ^ Cassiopeiae.
e, ^, T], and 6 Pegasi bear respectively the following Arab
names: "Enif, " the nose, "Homam, " the lucky star,
"Matar," the fortunate rain, "Baham," the good luck of
the two beasts.
Most of the faint stars in the constellation have received
individual names, an indication of the importance of the
constellation in early times.
Within the area of the Great Square Argelander counted
about thirty naked eye stars, while Schmidt, observing at
Athens, counted one hundred and two.
The writer acknowledges his indebtedness to Prof. W. W.
Campbell, of the Lick Observatory, for the following in-
formation concerning the stars that form the Great Square
of Pegasus :
Alpha Andromedae is a spectroscopic binary star whose
two components revolve around their mutual centre of
mass in ninety-seven days, and the system as a whole is
approaching the solar system with a speed of 13 km. per
second.
Alpha Pegasi is a spectroscopic binary. The observed
velocity is variable, and not enough observations have been
secured to determine the velocity of the system. »
Midway between the head of the Flying Horse and the
Dolphin, is a rectangular-shaped figure composed of fourth
and fifth magnitude stars, which forms the asterism known
as "Equuleus," "the Foal," "the Little Horse," or "the
Horse's Head. "
The head only of this equine figure is represented, and
like the winged Horse appears in an inverted position.
Geminus mentions Equuleus as having been formed by
Hipparchus. Ptolemy catalogued it as "IxxovTCporoiii^. The
* Beta Pegasi is receding from the solar system with a velocity of 8
km. per second. Gamma Pegasi is receding from the solar system with
a velocity of 5 km. per second.
Pegasus, the Flying Horse 297
Arabs called it "Part of a Horse," while with the Hindus
it was another of their Aswini, "the Horsemen."
In mythology, according to Allen, Equuleus is said to
represent Celeris, the brother of Pegasus, given by Mercury
to Castor; or Cyllarus, given to Pollux by Juno, or the
creature struck by Neptune's trident from the earth when
contesting with Minerva for superiority; but it also was
connected with the story of Philyra and Saturn.
Cassius thought that Equuleus represented the King's
Horse that Haman hoped for as told in the book of Esther.
It was also thought to represent the mystic Rose.
The asterism comes to the meridian at 9 p.m. on the 24th
of September.
S Equulei is a triple and binary star. The two largest
stars form a system noted as the quickest in orbital revo-
lution of all the binaries in the heavens, save two. Its
period according to Prof. Hussey is about 5.7 years. The
components are so close that they can only be separated by
the largest telescopes.
Perseus
The Champion
299
1
o
CapeUa
Andromeda
Algol in the
„ Head of Medusa
" a famous variable
Atik
The :gleiade
in Taurus
PERSEUS
PERSEUS
THE CHAMPION
Perseus seek for by her feet
Which ever at his shoulder are revolving.
Tallest of all his compeers at the North
He towers. His right hand stretches toward the chair
Of his bride's mother.
Frothingham's Aratos.
In the legend of the sacrifice of Andromeda previously
related Perseus figures as the hero, and hence we find his
constellation situated close to the groups that represent
the unfortunate maiden and the ferocious monster that
sought to destroy her.
We can never be sure whether the constellation suggested
the legend, or the legend the constellation. It may be, as
one authority points out, that the legend was suggested
by the fact that the constellation Perseus, rising before
Andromeda, seems to deliver it from the night, which might
well be depicted as a monster, such as appears in the figiu-e
of the constellation Cetus.
It seems, however, as if there were a deeper significance
in this story that the stars illustrate, of a conflict between
man and beast, with a human sacrifice at stake, and the
eventual triumph of man.
We find among the stellar figures many conflicts of this
nature depicted, and in no case do we find man overcome in
the struggle that he is engaged in.
Hercules and Ophiuchus are seen respectively trampling
underfoot or holding securely gigantic reptiles. The Archer
is about to slay the Scorpion, and Orion threatens undis-
mayed the advancing Bull. Perseus, flying from his victory
301
302 Star Lore of All Ages
over the dread Medusa, slays the monster of the deep, and
rescues the fair Andromeda.
This universal victory of humanity over the animal
world, depicted in the constellations, is one of the chief
features of these time-honoured configurations, and is
clearly indicative of the fact that the ancient star groups
are the product of design and not chance.
Perseus, because of his gallantry, is known as " the Knight
Errant of Mythology," The hero was the son of Jupiter
and Danae, and the favourite of the gods. His successful
encounter with the Medusa rendered his name immortal,
and at his death, it is said, he was transported to the starry
skies, where he appears with upraised sword, holding the
severed head of the Medusa up to the gaze of all mankind,
for all time.
Plunket is of the opinion that the constellation was in-
vented about 1433 B.C., as at that time the star Algol, the
well-known variable and most interesting star in the con-
stellation, exactly marked the eqmnoctial meridian.
"The northern latitude 40° N., suitable for the imagin-
ing of this constellation, and the name 'Perseus' seem to
point," says Plunket, "to an Iranian school of astronomers
as the probable originators of this figure."
Aratos, in an allusion to Perseus, describes him as "stir-
ring up the dust in heaven, "so great was his haste to rescue
Andromeda. It has been suggested that the dust may be
represented by the Milky Way, in a part of which the con-
stellation is located.
Without doubt the story of Perseus was well known in
Greece anterior to the 5th century B.C., for Euripides and
Sophocles each wrote a drama based on Andromeda's
history.
The Arabs called the constellation "Bearer of the Demon's
Head," which is represented by the star ^ Persei, known
generally as "Algol." Perseus has also been called "the
Rescuer," and "the Destroyer." Dr. Seiss regards the
figure as symbolising the Redeemer of Mankind, and others
'O 3
< >.
rt .S
Perseus, the Champion 303
have claimed that Perseus represents David with the head
of Goliath, and the Apostle Paul with his sword and book.
The constellation is 28° in length, one of the most ex-
tended in the heavens. Its principal stars form a curved
line that bears the name of "the Segment of Perseus," a
figure that is almost as much of a stellar landmark as the
Great Square of Pegasus.
The most interesting star by far that the constellation
contains is the variable "Algol," the so-called "Demon
Star," or "Blinking Demon."
The variability of this remarkable star was first scientific-
ally noted by Montanari in 1670, but it is tolerably clear
that these light variations had been detected long before
his day. Indeed the winking of this star, so to speak,
probably influenced those who christened it, so that they
likened it to the eye of some great demon peering down
through space seeking his prey.
Goodricke, in 1782, was the first one to advance the
eclipse theory to account for the variations in the light of
this star, and since that date it has been under the constant
observation of trained observers.
In 1880 Pickering reaffirmed the eclipse theory, and Vogel
subsequently proved the theory unquestionably correct by
means of that wonderful instrument the spectroscope.
During 2.5 days Algol is constant at magnitude 2.3. It
then begins to diminish in brilliance, at first gradually,
and afterwards with increasing rapidity to 3.5 magnitude
during a period of about nine hovirs ; its total period being
stated as two days, twenty hours, forty-eight minutes,
and fifty-five seconds.
In accordance with the eclipse theory to account for the
variations of light in Algol, it has been proved that this star
is accompanied by a great dark satellite as large as our sun,
which at regular intervals passes between us and Algol, cut-
ting off a portion of its light. Algol is said to be one million
miles in diameter, while the diameter of the satellite is given
as eight hundred thousand miles. The distance between
304 Star Lore of All Ages
these enormous bodies is three million miles. Both stars are
probably surrounded by extensive atmospheres and their
united mass is estimated to be two- thirds that of our own sun.
It is said that the famous astronomer Lalande, who
died in Paris in 1807, was wont to remain whole nights,
in his old age, upon the Pont Neuf , to exhibit to the curious
the variations in the brilliancy of the star Algol.
In astrology Algol was considered the most unfortunate
and dangerous star in the heavens.
Among the Hebrews Algol was said to represent Adam's
mysterious first wife, Lilith. The star has also been called
"the Medusa's or Gorgon's Head," "Satan's Head," "the
Spectre's Head," "Double Eye," and the Chinese knew
Algol by the unsavoury name of " Piled up Corpses. " The
Arabs called the star "Al-Ghul," the Demon or "Fiend of
the Woods," from which otu- word ghoul is derived.
Algol is a Sirian star, and is approaching our system at
the rate of a mile a second. It is on the meridian at 9 p.m.
Dec. 23d, and at that time is almost exactly in the zenith
of New York City.
There are two beautiful star clusters in this constellation,
situated in the "Sword Hand of the Champion," about
midway between the "Segment of Perseus " and Cassiopeia.
Hipparchus refers to them as "a cloudy spot," while
Ptolemy called them "a dense mass." They are visible
to the naked eye, and present a beautiful appearance in an
opera-glass. Seen through a telescope the glory of the
sight is indescribable. In one of these clusters at least
one hundred stars may be seen in an area less than one
quarter as broad as the face of the full moon.
The well-known Perseid meteor shower, wdth its maxi-
mum about August loth, radiates from this constellation.
These meteors are sometimes called "the Tears of St.
Lawrence," and the shower has been recorded as far back
as the year 811.
a Persei, a star of the second magnitude, bears the name
"Algenib," meaning the "Side." It has also been called
Photo by Brogi
Perseus and Medusa
Bronze by Cellini at Florence
Perseus, the Champion 305
" Marfac, " meaning the " Elbow. " It is flanked on either
side by a bright star, and in this respect resembles Altair,
the first magnitude star in Aquila.
s Persei is a double star, "especially interesting," says
Serviss, "on account of an alleged change of colour from
blue to red which the smaller star undergoes coincidently
with a variation of brightness."
Tfj Persei is also a double star, noteworthy as having three
faint stars on one side nearly in a line and one on the
other forming a miniature representation of Jupiter and his
satellites.
^ and 0 Persei bear respectively the names "Menkib"
and "Atik."
"The Milky Way around Perseus," says Burritt, "is
very vivid, being undoubtedly a rich stratum of fixed stars,
presenting the most wonderful and sublime phenomenon
of the Creator's power and greatness. " Kohler, the astron-
omer, observed a beautifiil nebula near the face of Perseus,
besides eight other nebulous clusters in different parts of
the constellation.
About midway between ^ and S Persei there appeared
Feb. 21, 1901, a nova or new star. It was discovered by
Dr. Anderson of Edinburgh and when first seen was of 2.5
magnitude. It shone with a bluish-white light and two
days after its discovery it was brighter than Capella, having
in three days increased its brightness 25,000 fold. All nova
are temporary and rapidly diminish in brightness. Follow-
ing the usual course Nova Persei became invisible to the
naked eye in six weeks and its spectrum soon became nebu-
lous. So terrific was the heat evolved that the gases ex-
panded outward with a velocity of over 2000 miles a second,
and the distance was so great that its light only reached us
after a period estimated at 300 years, hence the collision
which we witnessed by the advent of this new star must
have occurred about the year 1600,
Nova Persei was the most brilliant star that has appeared
since 1604.
Pisces
The Fishes
307
4'^-o^
O
2 Alpheratz
9r
p
The Great Square
of Pegasiu
AlRUcha
OlieKiuit
V
M.
PISCES
PISCES
THE FISHES
The Fishes shine one higher than the other,
From each of them extends as 't were a band
That fastens tail to tail, as wide it floats.
And one star large and brilliant clasps its ends,
The Heavenly Knot 't is called.
Frothingham's Aratos.
Owing to the Precession of the Eqmnoxes, the constel-
lation of the Fishes is now the Leader of the Celestial Hosts.
The vernal equinox, or the point where the sun crosses the
equator in the spring, is situated in Pisces and this point
is often referred to as "the Greenwich of the Sky. " From
it the Right Ascension of all the stars is reckoned.
Pisces is usually represented on the star maps by the fig-
ures of two fishes a considerable distance apart ; around the
tail of each is tied a ribbon, and the ends of these bonds
are joined together and tied in a knot, which the star " Al-
Rischa, " or a Piscium, represents.
According to Greek mythology, Venus and her son Cupid
were strolling along the banks of the Euphrates River.
They were alarmed at the sudden appearance of Typhon,
a terrible giant, whose chief occupation seems to have been
to frighten people. To escape the monster, Venus and
Cupid leaped into the river and assumed the form of two
fishes. To commemorate this event Minerva placed two
Fishes among the stars.
In accordance with this myth the constellation was
popularly known as "Venus and Cupid."
This legend of the escape of Venus and Cupid from thd
dread Typhon is analogous to the myth concerning the
309
3IO Star Lore of All Ages
constellation Capricomus, where, as we have seen, Pan or
Bacchus escaped from Typhon by jumping into the river
Nile, and assuming the form of a Goat-Fish.
It is comforting to know that Typhon was finally
disposed of by the father of the gods, and, according
to the myth, he lies crushed to death beneath Mount
iEtna.
The Babylonians, Syrians, Persians, Turks, and Greeks
all regarded this star group as representing two Fishes, and
we find them appropriately placed in the part of the sky
known to the ancients as "the Sea," near the Whale, the
Dolphin, and the Southern Fish.
Sayce is of the opinion that the dual form of this constel-
lation is due to the double month inserted esvery six years
into the Babylonian calendar.
The two Fishes are known as "the Northern Fish,"
which lies just south of Andromeda, and "the Western
Fish," situated below Pegasus. The former was known
to the Chaldeans as "the Tunny, " and it is said that there
was an important tunny fishery at Cyzicus, which might
have influenced the choice of these symbols.
According to the Egyptians this sign denoted the ap-
proach of spring and the season for fishing. It is also
claimed that the name of the Fishes was derived from the
fact that, at the time when the sun entered Pisces,
fishes were considered as fattest and most in season for
use.
Brown claims that Pisces is a reduplication of the noc-
turnal sun, the fish sun concealed in the waters. The
archaic myth is that of the resumption of the cultivation
of the earth after the catastrophe of the Flood.
The Arabs knew the Western Fish as "Al-Hut," the
Fish, and they considered the stars in the Northern Fish
as part of the constellation Andromeda.
Allen tells us that the Chaldeans imagined the Northern
Fish with the head of a swallow. The association of a bird
with this constellation is very curious. Among the Peru-
3
u
a
Pisces, the Fishes 311
vians the month of Pisces was represented bj'' two star
groups, one called "the Terrace of the Granaries" or "the
Doves," a name also given to the Pleiades. This group
was figured as a kind of net with numerous meshes. For
some unexplained reason the Pleiades seem to have been
assodated with this sign in the Orient. The other Peru-
vian asterism was called "Pichu," the Knot, by which
name the month was also known, and it was represented
by a net enclosing fishes. The connection between Pisces
and the Pleiades is emphasised by the analogy in the idea
of snaring as applied to both birds and fishes, and Tennyson,
though probably unaware of it, expresses the idea in his
reference to the Pleiades, when he likens them to "fire-
flies tangled in a silver braid."
In the Hebrew zodiac Pisces represented the tribe of
Simeon, and the Fishes were considered the national con-
stellation of the Jews, as well as a tribal symbol.
Dr. Seiss considers that the Fishes symbolise "the Two-
foldness of the Church, " while Schiller thought the figure
represented St. Matthias.
In astrology Pisces is the House of Jupiter and the Ex-
altation of Venus. Those bom from Feb. 19th to March
20th are its natives. They are supposed to be short, thick-
set, pale, and round shouldered, with characters phlegmatic
and effeminate.
It governs the feet and reigns over Portugal, Spain,
Egypt, Normandy, Calabria, etc.
It is a feminine sign and unfortunate. "No sign, " says
Burritt, "appears to have been considered of more malig-
nant influence than Pisces. The astrological calendar de-
scribes the emblems of this constellation as indicative of
violence and death. Both the Syrians and Egyptians ab-
stained from eating fish, out of dread and abhorrence,
and when the latter would represent anything as odi-
ous or express hatred by hieroglyphics, they painted a
fish."
The 26th Hindu lunar station lay in this sign, and
312 Star Lore of All Ages
contrary to the malignant influence ascribed to the constel-
lation it was designated "abundant or wealthy."^
The flower ascribed to Pisces is the daffodil, and the gem
the white chrysolite.
The symbol of the sign, ^ , is thought to represent the two
fishes joined together. A fish was always the symbol of
the early Christian faith, and the figure appears in many
of the stained glass windows in the churches of to-day.
When each sign of the zodiac was assigned to one of the
twelve Apostles, the Fishes were said to represent St.
Matthias.
The Western Fish is represented by a lozenge-shaped
figiire traced by faint stars, which is known as "the Circlet."
Three distinct conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn were
recorded as taking place in Pisces in the year 747 of Rome.
This was the year in which for a long time Christ was sup-
posed to have bden born. The claim has been made that
the star of Bethlehem was so to speak a composite star,
a conjunction in Pisces of the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and
Mars. ^
Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus were all located here in Febru-
ary, 188 1. Stoffler predicted in 1524, when these three
planets were in conjunction in Pisces, that there woiild be
another Deluge. The season was unusually dry. It was in
this constellation that Harding discovered Juno in Septem-
ber, 1804.
The principal star in the constellation is a Piscium,
known as "Al-Rischa, " meaning the Cord, or "Okda," the
' The star f Piscium marks the initial point of the fixed Hindu
sphere from which longitude was reckoned. This point coincided with
the vernal equinox a.d. 570. This date, says Burgess, fixes approxi-
mately the commencement of the history of modern Hindu astronomy.
* In support of this theory a recent writer has said that "such a con-
junction would at once have been interpreted by the Chaldasan ob-
servers as indicating the approach of some memorable event, and since
it occurred in the constellation of Pisces, which was supposed by as-
trologers to be immediately connected with the fortunes of Judaea, it
would naturally turn their thoughts in that direction."
Pisces, the Fishes 313
Knot of the two threads. It marks the knot formed by
the joining together of the ends of the ribbons that hold
the Fishes fast by the tail. The Arabs knew these two
cords as "the Flaxen Thread."
It is a double star which culminates at 9 p.m. Dec. 7th.
The remaining stars in the constellation are unimportant.
On a clear night, when the moon is absent from the sky,
the lines of stars representing the ribbons can be clearly
seen. Starting from the Knot Star, the stars diverge to
the east and west, forming a "V "-shaped cleft, into which
the Great Square of Pegasus seems about to fall.
Sagittarius
The Archer
315
•MV.
Jtokbat*
Q Corona Australia
o The Southern Crown
r'
/
SAGITTARIUS
SAGITTARIUS
THE ARCHER
Midst golden stars he stands refulgent now
And thrusts the Scorpion with his bended bow.
Ovid.
The antiquity of this constellation is attested by the fact
that it is depicted on ancient Babylonian monuments, and
upon the early zodiacs of Egypt and India.
Sagittarius, according to Greek mythology, represents
the famous centaur Chiron, son of Philyra and Saturn,
who changed himself into a horse to elude his jealous wife,
Rhea. Ovid tells us that Chiron was slain by Hercules
with a poisoned arrow. Chiron, realising that the wound
was incurable, begged Jupiter to deprive him of immortality.
The father of the gods granted his request, and placed him
among the constellations.
Another legend relates that Apollo urged the moon god-
dess Artemis to aim a shaft from her bow at a gleaming
point on the horizon, which concealed Orion, the mighty
hunter. Orion was thus unwittingly slain by Artemis.
The constellation Orion is exactly in opposition to the so-
called "Bow stars" of Sagittarius, which accounts for this
myth connecting the two constellations.
The legend is clearly astronomical in its significance, for
in the variant form here depicted, Artemis is represented as
sending a scorpion to sting Orion to death, and we find the
stars marking the scorpion's sting in very close proximity
to the Bow stars of Sagittarius.
On ancient obelisks the figure of an arrow is sometimes
seen, which is supposed to be a hieroglyphical representa-
317
-j^-;
3i8 Star Lore of All Ages
tion of this sign. In the Indian zodiac the name of the
constellation simply means "arrow. "
It is thought that the Egyptians made use of the figure
of Hercules to represent this constellation, and that the
Greeks chose to substitute the centaur in compliment to
Chiron.
The centaur Chiron was sometimes called "the Bull
Killer." The astronomical significance of this appellation
is as follows: When the constellation Sagittarius rises
in the east, it always seems to drive below the western
horizon the last stars in the constellation Taurus, the Bull.
Thus the Archer, metaphorically speaking, slays the Bull.
Chiron was reputed to be a wonderful archer, and taught
the Grecian youths the use of the bow and arrow. He is
always represented with bow drawn, aiming a shaft at the
heart of the Scorpion. As Manilius puts it:
. . . glorious in his Cretian bow,
Centaur follows with an aiming eye,
His bow full drawn and ready to let fly.
According to Brown this constellation is a solar variant,
and we have represented here the rising sun shooting out
his shafts across the morning skies. From a fragment of
the Euphratean Planisphere it is indicated that the Ak-
kadian name for Sagittarius signified "Light of the White
Face," or "Smiting Sun Face." Cuneiform inscriptions
designate Sagittarius as "the Strong One," "the Giant of
War," and "the Illuminator of the Great City."
There are few constellations in which the figures of the
monuments and the descriptions in the tablets show a
closer connection between Euphratean and classical forms
than in the case of Sagittarius.
The constellation is identified with the Assyrian god
Assur and the Median god Ahura. Ahura is generally
represented as holding in his hand a ring or crown, and
Assur in some examples is also thus depicted. Close to the
hand of the Archer we see the ancient Ptolemaic constella-
Sagittarius, the Archer 319
tion "Corona Australis," the Southern Crown, which is
generally represented as a ring-shaped wreath. This ac-
counts for the substitution of the crown or wreath for the
bow and arrow.
From approximately 6000 to 4000 B.C. Sagittarius was
the constellation in which the autumnal equinoctial point
was located, the equinoctial colure passing through the
constellations Sagittarius and Taurus. In accordance with
this, we find on one of the ancient Assyrian standards the
figure of an archer above that of a galloping bull.
Plunket claims that originally only the bow and arrow
of Sagittarius were represented for this division of the
ecliptic. The first recorded classic figuring of the Archer
was in Eratosthenes' description of it as a Satyr. After-
wards it was changed to a Centaur or Bull Killer. The
centaurs were an ancient race inhabiting Mt. Pelion in
Thessaly.
Longfellow in his " Poet's Calendar " thus refers to the
Archer:
With sounding hoofs across the earth I fly,
A steed Thessalian with a human face.
The stars ^, t, a, 9, and X Sagittarii form a figure known
as "the Milk Dipper." The Dipper appears inverted and
the title is appropriate as it is situated in the Milky Way.
This figure was known to the ancients as "the Ladle," and
these stars were the objects of special worship in China for
at least a thousand years before our era. The Chinese
called this figure "the Temple, " and Sagittarius was known
to them as "the Tiger." The Milk Dipper is also called
"the Hobby Horse of Sagittarius."
X, S, and e Sagittarii form the bow of the Archer. This
bow has metaphorically been regarded as "the Bow of
Promise Set in the Cloud," succeeding the Peluge, the
"Cloud" being represented by the Milky Way.
The Arabs called this constellation "the Bow." They
imagined the stars in the group represented ostriches passing
320 Star Lore of All Ages
to and from the celestial river, the Milky Way. The star
X represented their keeper.
It is indeed strange, as Ideler points out, that these non-
drinking animals should be found here so close to a river,
but the suggestion has been made that these stars re-
presented pasturing cattle, that being the translation of
Na'aim, the title of the 20th lunar station of the Arabs
located here.
Some authorities, who claim to explain the origin of the
constellations, assert that Sagittarius was so called be-
cause, at the time the sun entered it, the hunting season
opened, and that this is the Archer or Huntsman. Sagit-
tarius has always been considered the patron of the hiinter
and the chase.
There is in the figure further evidence of design on the
part of the inventors of the constellations, for we find the
Horse of Pegasus endowed with wings, which are denied
Centaurus and the Archer.
The Jews regarded the Archer as the tribal symbol of
Ephraim and Manasseh, while Dr. Seiss calls Sagittarius
"a pictorial prophecy of our Blessed Lord." The Archer
appears on a coin of Gallienus of about a.d. 260, and Schiller
thought the figure represented St. Matthew.
Astrologically speaking, Sagittarius is the House and Joy
of Jupiter. Its natives, those born between the dates Nov.
22d and Dec. 21st, are said to be well formed, with fine
clear eyes, chestnut hair, and oval fleshy face. They are
generally of a jovial disposition, active, intrepid, generous,
and obliging. It governs the legs and thighs, and reigns
over Arabia, Spain, Hungary, Moravia, Cologne, etc. It
is a masctdine sign and fortunate. The goldenrod is the
flower, and the carbuncle is the significant gem.
Ampelius associated it with the south wind, and the
colour yellow was attributed to it.
a Sagittarii bears the name "Rukbat," meaning the
"Archer's Knee."
P, a double star, was designated "Arkab," the "Tendon,"
Sagittarius, the Archer 321
and a and ^ were known to Kazwini as "two desert
birds."
Y was called "Al-Nasl," meaning the "Point," *. e., of
the arrow which the Archer aims at the Scorpion.
5 and e are double stars. The former was known as
"Kaus Meridionalis " or "Media," meaning the "Middle,"
i. e., of the bow. The latter was "Kaus Australis," the
southern (part of the) bow.
X^ was called "Ascella," the "Armpit."
X bore the title "Kaus Borealis," meaning the northern
(part of the) bow.
ix', a triple star, and [x' mark the point of the winter
solstice.
a, known as "Nunki," also bore the title, "the Star of the
Proclamation of the Sea. "
The symbol of the sign Sagittarius ( # ) indicates the arrow
and part of the bow.
0) and three stars near it form a small quadrangle on
the hind quarters of the horse, which bears the name " Tere-
Bellum. " This figure was known to the Chinese as "the
Dog's Country."
There are several fine naked-eye star-clusters in this
constellation, which also contains the celebrated "Trifid
Nebula," discovered in 1764.
An exceedingly brilliant nova is said to have appeared
low down in Sagittarius in the year loii or 1012, which
was visible for three months. The appearance of this star
was recorded in the astronomical records of China.
Sagittarius also contains one of the so-called " Coal Sacks"
in the Milky Way, dark spots where no stars appear. One
of these is near the stars y and B Sagittarii, showing but one
faint telescopic star.
There is another remarkable spot near the star X Sagit-
tarii, of which Prof. Barnard writes: "It is a small black
hole in the sky. It is round and sharply defined. Its
measured diameter on the negative is 2.6'. On account
of its sharpness and smallness and its isolation, this is
322 Star Lore of All Ages
perhaps the most remarkable of all the black holes with
which I am acquainted. It lies in an ordinary part of the
Milky Way, and is not due to the presence or absence of
stars, but seems really to be a marking on the sky. "
Scorpio
The Scorpion
323
••tM
0 P
u^^'
Jabbah •— ^^GrtUB&l
WM.:.:;.
SCORPIO
^ugas
y\ Libra \-
SCORPIO
SCORPIO
THE SCORPION
There is a place above where Scorpio bent,
In tail and arms surrounds a vast extent.
In a wide circuit of the heavens he shines,
And fills the place of two celestial signs.
Ovid.
This is the famous Scorpion which sprang out of the
earth at the command of Juno, and stung Orion, the mighty
hunter, of which wound he died.
It has been suggested that the inventors of the constella-
tions might have placed the Scorpion in this region of the
zodiac to denote that when the sun enters this sign, the
diseases incident to the fruit season would prevail, since
autumn, which abounded in fruit, often brought with it
a great variety of diseases, and might be thus fitly repre-
sented by that venomous creature the Scorpion, who, as he
recedes, wounds with a sting in his tail. However, there
seems a deeper significance for the name and position of this
constellation, which Maunder points out. At midnight at
the spring equinox, the Scorpion was for the ancients who
designed the star groups on the meridian in the south, and
the Dragon was in like manner on the meridian in the north,
so they provided another hero, the Serpent Holder, to
trample down the Scorpion in the south, just as Hercules
treads on the Serpent in the north, the heads of the two
heroes being represented by stars in the zenith. Both the
unknown warriors therefore were pictured in those primi-
tive ideas as erect, but for many generations Hercules has
appeared to us hanging downwards in the sky.
There can be little doubt that these four figures are
325
326 Star Lore of All Ages
connected, and they are so arranged that whichever way
we view the heavens, facing the meridian, we see a giant
treading on a serpent.
The Serpent-Bearer presses down the head of the Scorpion
at the point where the colure, the equator, and the ecliptic
intersected. This is significant, and the arrangement of
these constellations was unquestionably the result of a
deliberate plan.
For some reason the equator, the colures, the zenith, and
the Poles were all marked out by serpentine or draconic
forms. In this case the Scorpion is clearly depicted as
curling his sting upwards to wound the giant's heel. We
see again a seeming illustration of the Biblical utterances:
"I will put enmity between thee and the woman and be-
tween thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel."
Scorpio is one of the most ancient of the constellations,
originally much extended in the direction of Virgo, the
claws of the Scorpion occupying the region of the sky where
we now see the constellation Libra. In early times this
sign was represented by various symbols, sometimes by a
snake or crocodile, but most commonly as a Scorpion.
Brown tells us that the Scorpion, like the Crab, was ori-
ginally a symbol of darkness, and the original strife be-
tween the Orion-Sun and the Scorpion Darkness. This
is astronomically reduplicated in the constellations Orion
and Scorpio, where the stars in the former group appear to
be routed by the rising stars of the vScorpion. This sym-
bolism seems to be the foundation for the Greek legends
concerning the death of. Orion occasioned by the Scorpion's
sting.
As the Scorpion rises in the eastern sky, Orion, as if in
fear, disappears from view in the west. The Scorpion had
much to answer for, as, besides slaying the mighty hunter,
he is said to have stung the horses Phaeton drove on his
disastrous ride in the chariot of the sun.
On the early Euphratean monuments is found the
Scorpio, the Scorpion 327
figure of a lamp, below which and almost touching it ap-
pears a scorpion with large claws. The stars in the claws
form a circular figure, and some authorities claim they
represent the waning sun.
Aratos speaks of "the fiery sting of the huge portent
Scorpio in the south wind's bosom."
Sir Wm. Drummond asserted that in the zodiac which
the patriarch Abraham knew, Scorpio was the Eagle.
There is a claim made, and it seems not improbable, that
the figure of the Cherubim in its fourfold character appears
in the constellations. It was described by Ezekiel as the
likeness of four living creatures, the lion, the calf, the third
creature having the face as of a man, the fourth like a
flying eagle. It is certainly significant and can hardly be
a coincidence that we find such figures in the four most
important positions in the sky. The constellations were
originally so designed that the sun at the time of the sum-
mer solstice was in the middle of the constellation Leo, at
the time of the spring equinox in the middle of Taurus, and
at the time of the winter solstice in the middle of Aquarius.
The fourth point, that held by the sun at the autumnal
equinox, would appear to have been already assigned to
the foot of the Serpent-Bearer as he crushes down the ser-
pent's head. Here we find the Scorpion, the very constella-
tion that, according to Drummond, Abraham knew as the
Eagle.
Some authorities claim that Aquila is the flying eagle, the
semblance of the fourth face of the Cherubim, but in
view of the fact that Antares, the brilliant first magnitude
star in the Scorpion, is always known as one of the so-called
four "Royal Stars," known as such from remote antiquity,
there seems to be some ground for the argument that the
constellation Scorpio was originally considered to repre-
sent the eagle.
Allen tells us that the Akkadians called this constel-
lation "the Seizer" or "Stinger," and "the Place where
One Bows Down." The Arabs, Persians, and Turks all
328 Star Lore of All Ages
regarded it as a Scorpion, while by the Mayas, an ancient
race residing in Yucatan, it was regarded as "the sign of the
Death god."
In the Hebrew zodiac, Scorpio is referred to the tribe of
Dan, because it is written, "Dan shall be a serpent by the
way, an adder in the path." The Egyptians fixed the en-
trance of the sun into Scorpio as the commencement of the
reign of Typhon, and when the sun was in this sign the death
of Osiris was lamented. Some commentators have located
in this constellation the Biblical "Chambers of the South."
The Scorpion is clearly indicated on the celebrated zodiac
of Denderah, and the constellation has been likened to a
cardinal's hat, and a kite. It certainly bears a striking
resemblance to the latter.
Early Christians claimed that this figure represented
the Apostle Bartholomew.
Scorpio was known to astrologers as "the accursed con-
stellation," the baleful sotu-ce of war and discord. Like
Aries it is the House of iMars and also his joy. Its natives,
those born between the dates Oct. 23d and Nov.22d are said
to be strong, corpulent, and robust, with large bones, dark
curly hair, dark eyes, middle stature, dusky complexions.
They are usually reserved in speech. It governs the region
of the groin, and reigns over Judaea, Norway, Barbary, Mor-
occo, Messina, etc. It is a feminine sign and unfortunate.
The red carnation is the flower and the topaz the gem.
The weather-wise thought that this constellation ex-
erted a malignant influence, and was accompanied by
storms, but the alchemists held Scorpio in high regard, for
only when the sun was in this sign could the transmutation
of iron into gold be performed.
Scorpio is in a region of the heavens famous for the ap-
pearance of novcB, the wonderful temporary stars that oc-
casionally flash upon otu* view the light that spells a great
conflagration or mighty cataclysm far out in space, the
enormity of which is beyond our comprehension.
a Scorpii is known as "Antares," from the Greek words
Scorpio, the Scorpion 329
avTt "ApTjq, meaning "similar to" or "a rival of Mars,"
doubtless in reference to its reddish hue. The ancient
Hindus called the star "the ruddy."
The Arabs knew it as "the Scorpion's Heart," and even
now it is often called "Cor Scorpii," the heart of the
Scorpion.
The heart with lustre of amazing force
Refulgent vibrates; faint the other parts,
And ill-defined by stars of meaner note.
Antares was one of the four "Royal Stars" of Persia,
3000 B.C. Chinese documents of great antiquity refer to
Antares as "the Fire Star" or "Great Fire." It was also
known as "the red or unlucky star." In central Asia it
was known as "the Grave Digger of Caravans," because
as long as the caravans observed its rising with Orion in
the morning, robbers and death followed the stations.
Some of the ancient temples of Egypt were oriented to
Antares, edifices that were built thousands of years before
the Christian era, and Greek temples at Athens, Corinth,
Delphi, and ^gina contain architectural features of a
like nature, showing clearly that the star Antares played
an important part in the temple worship.
On the Euphrates Antares was known as "the Lord of
the Seed," "the Lusty King," "the Vermilion Star," and
"the Day-Heaven-Bird." This latter title seems to con-
firm the idea that this constellation was originally intended
to represent an eagle.
Jensen claims that Antares is the "Lance Star" referred
to in the 38th chapter of the book of Job.
Mrs. Martin thus refers to the rising of this ruddy-hued
sun: "Before one has really seen the star he becomes con-
scious of a ruddy glow low in the south-east that at once
fastens the attention. It is the face of Antares whose red
light shining through the heavy atmosphere is so diffused
that it gives a rosy effect to the sky for a considerable
330 Star Lore of All Ages
distance around the star, like a miniature presentment of
the sun as it rises on a hazy morning."
Antares belongs to Secchi's third spectroscopic type
of stars, the suns that are slowly growing cold as their fires
burn low. Like huge embers they still glow with latent
heat, like sullen demons doomed to death these flame-
scourged suns await the frigid touch that time bestows on
life, be it on this mundane sphere or in the uttermost parts
of the firmament.
Antares has a tiny emerald green companion which can
be seen in a five-inch telescope. Serviss, in his Pleasures
of the Telescope, thus refers to it: "Antares carries con-
cealed in its rays a green jewel which to the eye of the
enthusiast in telescopic recreation appears more beautiful
and inviting each time he penetrates to its hiding-place.
. . . When the air is steady and the companion can be
well viewed, there is no finer sight among the double
stars. The contrast in colours is beautifully distinct — fire-
red and bright green. The little green star has been
seen emerging from behind the moon ahead of its ruddy
companion."
Two or three degrees north of Antares is the location of
the discovery of Coddington's Comet C of 1898, the third
comet to be discovered photographically.
Antares rises at sunset on the ist day of June, and cul-
minates at 9 P.M. on July nth.
The triple star ^ Scorpii is known as "Graffias," of un-
known derivation. Allen points out that the Greek word
r^aC^ouoq signifies crab, and that the words for crab and
scorpion were almost interchangeable in the early days.
This may possibly explain the origin of the title of this
star. Timochares, it is said, observed an occultation of
^ by the moon in the year 295 B.C.
The three stars in a line, ^, 8, and -:: Scorpii, seem to have
attracted attention in all ages, much as the three stars in
Orion's Belt are always associated together. The Hindus
figured these stars as a Row or Ridge, and on the Euphrates
Scorpio, the Scorpion 331
this group represented the Tree of the Garden of Light,
associated with the idea of the Tree of Life in the midst of
the Garden of Eden, which has a special significance when
it is recalled that Scorpio may be considered as represent-
ing one phase of the Cherubim which was set in the Garden
of Eden.
X and u Scorpii are situated in the sting of the Scorpion,
which appears to be raised and about to strike the heel of
the Serpent-Bearer. The former was known as "Shaula,"
meaning the "Sting." This star was regarded as unlucky
by the astrologers, u Scorpii was called "Lesuth." These
stars were known as "the two releasers," their rising being
supposed to bring relief to those suffering from lingering
disease.
The row of stars from (x to u Scorpii was known to the
Polynesian islanders as "the Fishhook of Mani," with
which that god drew up from the depths the great island
Tongareva. They also regard (x^ and !^^ as brother and
sister, fleeing from home to the sky when ill treated by
their parents, the stars X and u, who followed them, and are
still in pursuit.
The Chinese knew X and u Scorpii as "the parts of a
lock." Above these stars are two very fine star clusters
visible to the naked eye, and beautiful objects even in an
opera-glass. One of these was a great favourite with Sir
Wm. Herschel, who discovered that it was a star cluster
and not a circular nebula, as Messier had claimed. Her-
schel considered this cluster the richest mass of stars in the
firmament.
Taurus
The Bull
333
""""■"t^fc' The Pleiades
/~\Betelgeuze
OriOD
TAURUS
TAURUS
THE BULL
I mark, stem Taurus, through the twilight grey,
The glinting of thy horn,
And sullen front, uprising large and dim.
Bent to the starry Hunter's sword at bay.
Taylor.
There is every reason to suppose that the constellation
Tatirus was one of the first to be invented. In ancient
Akkadia it was known as "the Bull of Light," and before
the time of Abraham, or over four thousand years ago,
the Bull marked the vernal equinox. For the space of two
thousand years therefore, Taurus was the prince and leader
of the celestial hosts.
The sun in Taurus was deified under the symbol of a
bull and worshipped in that form, and evidence of this
idolatry is seen in^he sacred figures found among the nuns
of Egypt and Assyria, in the form of a bull with a human
face, or a human shape with the face and horns of a bull.
On the walls of a sepulchre excavated at Thebes, Taurus
JsjhSssnras^hefirst ofthe zodiacal signs, and the representa-
tions oLtbe Mithraic Bull on gems of four or five centtuies
before Christ prove that Taurus was at that time still
prominent in the astronomy and religion of Persia and
Babylon.
^The_Egyptians_rega,rdp.d Taurus as the^^mblem of a
perpetual return to Hfe. They identified it with OsirisT^
the Bull-god, the god of the Nile, and worshipped it und»~-
^^s figure by the name "Apis." ~~ ~~
Plunket consid^=&tEat the ApTs Bull of Egypt was looked
upon as a living representation of the zodiacal Bull, and that
~ ~ ' 3J5 — -
33^ Star Lore of All Ag>:s
this figure may have been known before the building of t,he
Great Pyramid.
The Persians also were worshippers of the Bull. They
designated the .successive signs. of the zodiac by the letters
.of the alphabet, and with them A stands for Taurus, B
for the Twins, etc., clearly indicating that they considered
the Bull the first sign of the zodiac. Reference to the as-
trological books, of the Jews shows that they, too, considered
Taurus the leader of the zodiacal signs.
In fact in all the ancient zodiacs that have come down-tc^
us Taurus apparently began the year, and it ^eems to have_
been regarded as a Bull in all of the ancient Mediterranean
countries, and also in coxmtries far distant from Europe,
and from the scenes of Hellenic mythology. — -
The constellation is exceedingly rich in myth and legend.
According to Grecian mythology, tEisls the Bull that caf^
ried Europa over the seas to that country which derived
from her its name. She was the daughter of Agenor, and,
it is said, so beautiful that Jupiter fell in love with her.
He assumed the form of a snow-white Bull and mingled with
the herds of Agenor. Eiiropa, charmed with the sight of
the beautiful creature, had the temerity to sit upon his
back. The god took advantage of the situation and car-
ried Europa across the seas to Crete.
In Moschus, translated by Andrew Lang, we read of
Jupiter's achievement and of his joiuneyings with Europa :
Swiftly he sped to the deep . . .
The strand he gained and forward he sped like a dolphin,
faring with unwetted hooves over the wide waves, and the
sea as he came grew smooth, and the sea monsters gambolled
around before the feet of Jupiter, and the dolphin rejoiced
and rising from the deeps he trembled on the swell of the
sea. The Nereids arose out of the salt waters and all of
them came on in orderly array, riding on the backs of
sea beasts.
Tennyson in his "Palace of Art" thus alludes to Europa:
Taurus, the Bull 337
Or sweet Europa's mantle blew unclasp'd,
From off her shoulder backward borne;
From one hand droop 'd a crocus; one hand grasp'd
The mild Bull's golden horn.
The_HdnaEping of Europa has ieen a SQurce^olinspira-
tion to a host of poets and artists in all ages. On the
ceiling of theTTucal Palace in Venice there is a celebrated
paintingnby Paul Veronese depicting the Rape of Europa.
TheioIIowing sonnet by Wm. W. Story is descriptive of
this picture:
Zephyr is wandering here with gentle sound
The first fresh fragrance of the Spring to seek;
The milk-white steer, whose budding horns are crowned
With flowery garlands, kneeling on the grotmd
Receives his burden fair, and turns his sleek
Mild head around, her sandalled foot to lick;
Luxuriant, joyous, fresh, with roses bovmd
About her sunny head, and on her cheek
The glow of mom, Europa mounts the steer.
One handmaid clasps her girdle, and one calls
The hovering Loves to bring their garlands near.
From her full breast the loosened drapery falls.
As borne by Love o'er slope and lea she goes,
Glad with exuberant life fresh as a new-blown rose.
Again we read :
Now lows a milk-white bull on Asia's strand,
And crops with dancing head the daisied land,
With rosy wreaths Europa's hand adorns
His fringed forehead and his pearly horns.
Light on his back the sportive damsel bounds.
And, pleased, he moves along the flowery ground.
Bears with slow steps his beauteous prize aloof,
And, dips in the dancing flood his ivory hoof.
Jupiter's exploit_was commemorated on earth by the
naming oTa continent, and in the heavens by the constella-
tion Taurus. _ , ~~~ '" —
There is every reason to suppose, however, that Taurus
antedated the period of Greek interest in astronomy, and
338 Star Lore of All Ages
that the constellation was invented by the Egyptians or
Chaldeans. ~
With the Romans, prior to the reign of Julius Caesar,
the year began in March, when Taurus is just visible in the
western horizon setting after the sun. "The white BuH~~
opens with his golden horns the year »" is_the way Virgil
expresses it.
The idea of whiteness in connection with Taiirus seems
to have had a very early origin. It probably arose from
the Greek legend of the mythical ^ull, which is always
described as snow white. "
Among the ancient Chinese Taurus was known as "the
White JTiger"; later^it was called "the Golden 0x7^
Strangely enough we find that the South. American In-
dians of the Amazon country called this star group "the
Ox." Here again is further proof that at a very early date
there was a transmigration, or a means of communication
unknown to us, between the far east and the far west,
^^^rgtos refers to the Bull as "Crouching." Manilius
speaks of "the striving Bull," and according to Cicero,
the Bull's knees are "bent." The Bull is depicted as in a
crouching attitude, in accordance with the legend, that
Europa might the more easily mount upon his back. It is^
not clear why only half the figure is shown, when there-
was sufficient space and stars were not lacking to depict
the entire figure. In the half horse, Pegasus, we have a
similar incongruity which is difficult to explain. In the
case of Pegasus, as has been explained, the horse is pre-
sumed to be flying upwards through the clouds and there-
fore but half of the creature appears. In like manner the
BuU is supposed to be swimming and half his body is
submerged.
Jensen identifies Taurus with Marduk, the Spring Sun,
which^as worshipped as far back as 2200 B.C. He is of
the opinion that the constellation was formed as early as
5000 B.C., even before the equinox lay there.
The BjLiU was an important object of worship with the
C 3
3 Q
Pi a
o
^ o
>
Taurus, the Bull 339
Druids, and their great Tauric festival was held when the
sun entered this constellatipn, a survival of which has come '
down to us in the festival of May Day.
It has been claimed, says Allen, that the tors of England
were the old sites of the Tauric worship of the Druids, and
our hot cross buns are the present representatives of the
^arly bull_cakes. with the same stellar association tracing
back through the ages to Egypt and Phoenicia. Accord-
ing to a Scotch jnyth the Candlemas Bull is seen rising in
tlie. twilightjQn Nftw Year's eve^ .
Mrs. Benjamin has written a most interesting mono-
graph on the sun in Taurus which the writer takes the
liberty of quoting from, as it reveals much that is enlighten-
ing concerning the constellation, and the customs that have
survived the ancient worship of this time-honoured star
group :
"In all ages of the world the nations have hailed with
delight the return of spring and the revivification of nature
under the warmth and heat of the sun. This universal
festival we know as .May_Day and it commemorates the
entrance of the sun~tttto-the constellation Taurus at the
vernal equinox 4000 B.C. It is still observed in all parts
jof Great Britain, among us, and in India and Persia.
"The old EngHsh ^Morris_Dance' is.. a remnant, of this ..
festival time, and Maurice says, 'I have little doubt that
May Day_or at least the day on ;pyhich the sun entged
Taurus has been immemorially kept ks a sacred festival
fronTthe creation of the earth and man, and wa^originaHy —
Tntended as a memoriaroJ"that"auspicious period and mo-
mentous event'."
In the Hebr§w^ Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic the word for
bull means'^'coming" or "who cometh/^jg^ the lucida of
the~consteltation is a first magnitude star called "Alde-
baran," which means the "leader."
" The Masonic Tau Cross, | T |, is an expressive symbol
of the vernal equinox and of immortality. The emblem is
found on many of the ancient monuments of Egypt, and
n
340 Star Lore of All Ages
clearly its astronomical significance can be traced to the
constellation Taurus, for Brown tells us that the word
J^Tau^is derived from an Egyptian or Coptic root mean-_
jng a bull or cow.
The ancient hieroglyphic sign of this constellation § re-
presents the face and horns of a bull.
The Greek letter Tau (t) and the English (T) are de-
rived fiom this symbol by the following steps:
1234s
O 8 T 1: T
In the Hebrew zodiac Taurus is ascribed ta Joseph, and
Dr. Seiss asserts that Taurus represents the fabled unicorn.
In the so-called "Apostolic Zodiac" Taurus was said to
represent St. Andrew, or the Burnt Sacrifice.
J\.strologically speaking, says Proctor, Taiuiis gives to its
natives Xthose bom from April 19th to May 20th) a stout
athletic frame, broad bull-like forehead, dark curly hair,
short neck, a dull apathetic temper, exceedingly cruel and
J- malicious if once aroused. It governs the neck and throat,
. and reigns over Ireland, Poland, part of Russia, Holland,
Persia, Asia Minor, the Archipelago, Mantua, Leipsic, etc.
I It is a feminine sign and unfortunate. The flower is the
'; jonquil, and the stone, agate. It was considered under
the guardianship of Venus, and white and lemon were the
colours assigned to it.
... go forth at night,
And talk with Aldebaran where he flames
In the cold forehead of the wintry sky.
Mrs. Sigoumey.
The Arabic name for a Tauri is "Aldebaran," which
means the "leader," or the attendant or follower, i. e.,
of the Pleiades. It was also known to the Arabs as "the
Eye of the Bull," and "the Great Camel," "the Stallion
Camel," "the Fat Camel," "the Female Camel," and "the
Bull's Heart." ^^^
The Hindus called the star^'Rohini," meaning the "Red
Taurus, the Bull 341
Deer," probably because of its colour, which is decidedly
ruddy.
According to Lockyer, Aldebaran rose heliacalLy at the—
beginning of spring in Babylon 69QO years ago,, and it- wa&-
thoiight that its rising at this time unattended by showers
portended a barren vear7r~TheT^Babvlonians regarded
Aldebaran as "the Leading Star of Stars, as it was the .
brightest star in the first of the zodiacal signs.
The Akkadians called it "the Furrow of Heaven,"
and "the Messenger of Light," although Allen tells us
thatthTsHatter title_was applied to Hamal, Capella, and
\ A cf -ri
(A-strologically, Aldebaran was a fortunate star, por-
tending riches and honour, and it was one of the foiu*
"Royal Stars" or "Guardians of the Sky" of Persia, 5000
years ago, when it marked the vernal equinox.
Mrs. Martin sees in these four starry Guardians of the
Sky a suggestion of royalty: "As one slips away from our
admiring gaze we turn to hail the coming of the other. ' The
King is dead: long live the King.'" The rising of Alde-
baran is thus described by Mrs. Martin : "Along in
September a very little north of east it shows its fiery face
above the horizon with such unmistakable individuality
that it catches the eye of even the least observingrrr-r-
It glows with a rosy light that demands recognition and at
once pronounces it one of the most important heavenly
bodies."
According to Peschitta the line in the bookofJgb^-iiDost—
thou guide 'Ayish and her children ?" refers to Aldebaran
and the Hyades. "'Ash" means "moth" and the Hyades
are V-shaped, resembling a butterfly or moth.
^Aldebaran lies_along^the^jnoon's track and is often oc-
culted by o\u: satellite. .Because of its position it is a star
jnuch used by navigators in ascertaining their position.
-Jt_is^nearly a standard first magnitude star, lacking only
two tenths of a magnitude of so being. Elkins states that
Aldebaran Js twenty -eight light years distant from us.
342 Star Lore of All Ages
This enormous distance is perhaps better guaged when we
say that if the distance from the earth to the sun, a matter
of ninety-three million miles, be considered as one inch,
Aldebaran would be twenty-seven miles away.
Aldebaran is said to be receding from us at the rate of
thirty miles a second, and Prof. Russell tells us that this
gigantic sun emits i6o times as much light as our sun. It
fulminates at 9 p.m., Jan. loth.^
( P Tauri, also known as y Aurigas, a second magnitude
star, was called by the Arabs "El-Nath," which means the
"Butting One," a reference to its position in the northern
horn of the Bull. This star is common to the constella-
tions Taurus and Auriga.
Aratos thus refers to it :
The tip of the left horn and the right foot
Of the near Charioteer, one star embraces.
The star is peculiarly_wliite_in_cc^oyr, and Allen tells us
that "the sun stood near this star at the commencement of
spring 6000 years ago. It has a Sirian spectrum, and is re-
ceding from us at the rate of about five miles a second.
Between it and t{^ Aurigas was discovered on the 24th of
January, 1891, the now celebrated Nova Aurigse that has
occasioned so much interest in the astronomical world."
Among the Hindus it represented tkgm) the god of fire,
and among the astrologers it portended eminence andt^^
fortune. ~
V Xt Tatiri, 3^1-5 magnitude star, marks the tip of the south-
ern horn of the Bull. The wonderful "Crab Nebula" is
situated a little north-west of it, and can be seen in a three-
inch glass, though a powerful telescope alone reveals its
curious form. —
Astrologically X, Tauri was considered of mischievous
influence.
-V \^ "* Taurus contains the greatest number of stars of any con-
^ stellation, 141 in all, exclusive of the Pleiades.
Taurus, the Bull 343
_The._celebrated star clusters, the Hyades and Pleiades,
are contained in Taurus. As they are specially note-
"worthy the writer has seen fit to devote a chapter to
them.
Ursa Major
The Greater Bear
345
8 n
APhekrah
. ^ El AcoU
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1v
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Ot«^
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Head
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8
O Cor CafoU
3 \
in
■♦^ \
Canee Venatlcl
*w,
>
URSA MAJOR \
TaUtha s
.-"/^
Hegrez
^ Alloth"J
\3 .^^^ Th® Dipper
Benetnasch
O Boo
XKuaetd*
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Draco
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(i^— o<
^^-.
URSA MAJOR
URSA MAJOR
THE GREATER BEAR
He who would scan the figured skies r^-
Their brightest gems to tell
Must first direct his mind's eye north
And learn the Bear's stars well.
Ursa Major, or the Greater Bear, is the most easily
recognised and the most widely known of all the constella-
tions. In all the records of an astronomical character that
have come down to us we find allusions to this famous
group of northern stars. It is unquestionably the most
ancient of all the constellations, and universally known as
"the Bear."
On the banks of the Euphrates thousands of years ago
it was so designated, and the Iroquois Indians of North
America called this star group "Okouari," their name for
"bear." The Algonquin Indians called the constellation
"the Bear and the Hunters," and as they were evidently
sensible of the incongruity of attributing a conspicuously
long tail to an animal that had none, they consequently
regarded the three stars in the tail of the Bear as three
hunters pursuing the beast.
The Finns called Ursa Major "Otawa," a title resem-
bling the "Okouari" of the Iroquois, and it is inferred that
they regarded this constellation as representing a Bear.
Thus in remote parts of the earth, in the far north, from
the valley of the Euphrates to the region of the Great
Lakes of North America, we find the same stars likened to
an identical animal, "the relic of some primeval associa-
tion of ideas long since extinct."
The arrangement of the stars in Ursa Major in no way
347
348 Star Lore of All Ages
suggests a bear, or any other animal, and even if one na-
tion shoidd so picture it, there is no reason why the same
imaginative creation should be universally identical,
Aristotle held that the name was derived from the fact
that of all known animals the bear was thought to be the
only one that dared to venture into the frozen regions of
the north and tempt the solitude and cold.
Prof. Max Muller thinks that the name of the Great
Bear is the result of a mistake as to the meaning of words.
The Sanscrit name "Riksha" signifies both "bear" and
"star that is bright." The seven bright stars in this con-
stellation form such a striking group that they might well
merit the title "Riksha" in its latter sense. It has been
suggested that the constellation was called "the Bear" as
a pun on this word "Riksha." Later on, this word was
confounded with the word, "Rishi," and so connected with
the Seven Sages or Poets of India, the Seven Wise Men of
Greece, the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and the Seven
Champions of Christendom. The ancient Hindus be-
lieved that the seven bright stars of Ursa Major repre-
sented the seven principal rich men or holy persons who
were supposed to live beyond Saturn, but the inhabitants
of northern Asia, the Phoenicians, Persians, and others, all
saw in these bright stars of the north the likeness of a
great bear.
On the famous zodiac of Denderah on the Nile, is pic-
tured the leg of an animal. This is identified by the au-
thorities with a constellation called "the Thigh," which
beyond question is the figure now known to us as Ursa
Major. The Egyptians called this constellation "the
Hippopotamus," "the Dog of Set," or "of Typhon," and
in latter days "the Car of Osiris."
The Greeks called this star group "ApxToq {AeytiXif), whence
we get our word "arctic."
It has been suggested that the word "Ursa" is derived
from "Versus," because the constellation is seen to turn
about the Pole.
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 349
Homer mentions the Bear as keeping watch from his
arctic den upon the hunter Orion for fear of a sudden at-
tack. He regarded the constellation as only composed of
the seven stars which form the familiar figure of the Dip-
per, and in his description of the shield of Achilles, he
writes, after mentioning other stars, of "the Bear sur-
named the Chariot." Homer's twice repeated assertion
that "the constellation of the Bear alone never sinks into
the ocean" merely allows us to infer that in his age the
Greek sphere did not yet comprise the constellations Draco,
Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Ursa Minor, which likewise
never set.
Even in Homer's day Ursa Major was known as "the
Wain," the name by which it is known in England to-
day. This title was originally "Charlemagne's Wain,"
from the Scandinavian Karlsvagn, the Carle's Wain. An-
other title was Arthur's Wain, a name, says Smyth, de-
rived from the Welsh " Arth," a bear. Smyth finds in the
circling of this constellation about the Pole the possible
origin of King Arthur's famous Round Table.
In all probability it is this group of stars and not Arctu-
rus which is referred to in Job's question:
Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons ?
In the Revised Version it reads :
Canst thou guide the Bear with her train ?
The word from which Arcturus was derived was " "Ayish "
or " ""Ash," a word that does not differ importantly from the
word "na'sh," the Hebrew word for assembly, the Arabic
"bier," a title among the Arabs for the four stars forming
the Dipper, from remote antiquity.
The three stars which form the tail of the Bear were
called by the Arabs "Benat-na'sh," the "daughters of the
Bier." "Regarding Arcturus as referring to the Bear,"
says Maunder, "we have in both passages of Job which
mention Arcturus, Orion, the Pleiades, and the Chambers
350 Star Lore of All Ages
of the South the fotir quarters of the heavens marked out
as being under the dominion of the Lord. In the ninth
chapter they are given in this order: The Bear which is
in the north, Orion in its acronical rising with the sun set-
ting in the west, the Pleiades in their heliacal rising with
the sun rising in the east, and the Chambers of the South."
In the Breeches Bible the note on the word "Arcturus"
reads: "The North star with those that are about him."
It seems more consistent with the stellar arrangement to
regard the four stars forming the bowl of the Dipper as
representing a bear, and the three stars in the handle of
the Dipper as representing the cubs following in her steps,
"her train," than to regard the constellation as a bear with
a long tail.
The Arabs also had a consistent figure in the Bier with
three mourners following. This title "the Bier" is so
similar to the almost universal appellation "the Bear,"
that we might almost suppose that the latter title was a
confused rendering of the former.
In some time antedating history, nomads of the east
famiHar with this constellation of "the Bier" may have
reached North America and there conveyed their con-
ception of this star group to the Indians, who translated the
idea into terms familiar to their lives. The bier was dis-
tinctly an object familiar in the Orient, and foreign to
the western savage, whereas the bear was foreign to the
far east and familiar to the western Indian, whose life was
bound up in the hunt. It therefore seems natural that in
the east we should find the bier followed by the mourners
represented by these prominent stars of the northern sky,
and among the Indians we shotild see this same star group
likened to a bear pursued by hunters.
Proctor is of the opinion that originally this was the only
Bear constellation, and that it was a much larger figure
than at present. Modern astronomers, finding a great
vacant space where formerly the Bear's large frame ex-
tended, formed there the new constellation "Canes Venat-
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 351
ici," the Hunting Dogs. No one can recognise a bear in
the present figure of the constellation, but Proctor says
that one who looks attentively at the part of the skies
occupied by the constellation will recognise, if they are
imaginative, a monstrous bear with the proper small head
of creatures of the bear family, and with exceedingly well
developed plantigrade feet.
The feet of the Bear are marked by three pairs of stars
strikingly arranged, and Maunder agrees with Proctor in
considering that these conspicuous stars suggested the
feet of a great plantigrade animal. Of course the figure can-
not at all times be recognised with equal facility, but be-
fore midnight during the last four or five months in the
year the Bear is seen, either upright in the heavens,
or as if descending a slope, and favourably situated for
observing.
Stories of the descent of tribes from animals are wide-
spread among the ancient annals of the race, the Akkad-
ians, Australians, red Indians, Bushmen, Bedouins, and
other wild races believing that they sprang from such a .
source. The Akkadians considered that they were de-
scended from a bear, and hence transferred the creature in
fancy to the stars. They were known among the ancients
as "the Bear Folk."
The growth of the Bear from his original seven stars was
obviously prompted by a desire to make the animal cor-
respond in size to the long tail which appeared in the
original figure. The stars adapted themselves fairly well
for the purpose, and there was no other constellation in
the way.
The Tower of Babel, the most ancient of temples, was
called "the Temple of the Seven Lights," or "the Celestial
Earth." It embodied the astronomical kingdoms of an-
tiquity. The seven lights were, it has been thought, the
seven stars of the Great Dipper.
Mythology links together in one story the constellations
of the Greater and Lesser Bears:
352 Star Lore of All Ages
The legend relates that Callisto, a nymph, the beautiftil
daughter of Lycaon, King of Arcadia, incurred the jealous
wrath of Juno. Jupiter, fearing that Callisto would suffer
injury at Juno's hands, transformed her into a bear.
Juno on perceiving this induced Diana to kill the bear in
the chase, but Jupiter placed his favourite out of harm's way
in the starry skies. Callisto's son Areas afterwards be-
came the constellation of Ursa Minor.
Addison, in his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses,
thus writes that Jove —
snatched them through the air
In whirlwinds up to heaven and fix'd them there;
Where the new constellations nightly rise,
And add a lustre to the northern skies.
Juno, it is said, indignant at the honour thus"" shown the
objects of her hatred, persuaded Tethys and Oceanus to
forbid the Bears to descend like the other stars into the
sea.
Homer in the following lines thus alludes to the perpetual
punishment meted out to Callisto and Areas:
Arctos, sole star that never bathes in th' ocean wave.
Bryant also writes in like vein :
The Bear, that sees star setting after star
In the blue brine, descends not to the deep.
The Bear now sets except in high latitudes, but in Homer's
day and long before, his stars did not sink below the horizon
or lave the seas.
Lowell in "Prometheus" thus refers to the Bear:
One after one the stars have risen and set,
Sparkling upon the hoar frost of my chain
Juno and Jove
National Museum, Palermo
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 353
The Bear that prowled all night about the fold
Of the North Star hath shrunk into his den,
Scared by the blithesome footsteps of the dawn.
Ovid gives a slightly different version of the legend.
According to him, Juno changed Callisto into a bear, and
when Areas was out hunting and unwittingly about to
slay his mother in the guise of a bear, Jupiter placed the
bear and the hunter among the stars.
According to another legend this constellation repre-
sented a Princess, transformed into a bear on account of
her pride in rejecting all suitors. For this her skin was
nailed to the sky as a warning to other proud maidens.
Aratos made the two Bears the Cretan nurses of the
infant Jupiter, afterwards raised to heaven for their de-
votion to their charge. Lewis disregards this legend on
the ground that Crete never contained any bears.
A modern Grecian legend relates that originally the sky
was supposed to be made of glass which touched the earth
on both sides. It was soft and thin, and some one nailed a
bearskin upon it. The nails became stars, and the tail
of the Bear is represented by three bright stars, which are
also known as "the handle of the Great Dipper."
The Iroquois Indians had a legend concerning this con-
stellation which was as follows :
"A party of hunters pursuing a bear were attacked by
three monster stone giants, who destroyed all but three
of them. These, together with the bear, were carried up
to the sky by invisible hands. The bear is still being pur-
sued by the three hunters. The first carries a bow, the
second a kettle to cook him in (this is represented by the
little star Alcor), and the third carries sticks with which to
light a fire when the bear is slain. In the autumn the first
hunter hits the bear, and the bloodstains from the wounded
bear tinge the autumn fohage." This legend is similar to
that of the Housatonic Indians, who roamed through the
valley from Pittsfield to Great Barrington. They believed
23
354 Star Lore of All Ages
that the chase of the bear lasted from spring until autumn,
when the animal was wounded, and its blood was seen on
the crimson foliage of the forest.
Stansbury Hagar, in an interesting monograph on The
Celestial Bear, relates much of interest in this connection,
which the writer takes the liberty of quoting in part.
In some particulars the legends he recites coincide with the
Indian legends previously referred to, but there are many
interesting details in addition whicli reveal the active im-
agination of the American Indians in its relation to these
famous stars.
"It is probable that in no part of the world has the ob-
servation of the stars exerted a greater influence over re-
ligion and mythology than amongst the native civilised
people of Central and South America. Throughout their
mythology the most beautiful legends are those associated
with the heavens, and the two stellar groups which seem
to have played decidedly the most conspicuous parts in
these legends are the Pleiades and the Great Bear.
"These star groups figured prominently in the legends of
the North American Indians also, and we can easily imagine
the astonishment of the early missionaries when they
pointed out the stars of the Great Bear to the Algonquins
and received the reply: 'But they are our Bear stars
too.*
"This constellation, famous in the mythology of the
Orient, seems to have been called 'the Bear' over nearly
the whole of our continent, when the first Europeans of
whom we have knowledge arrived.
" It was known as far north as Point Barrow, as far east
as Nova Scotia, as far west as the Pacific coast, and as
far south as the Pueblos. The best-known legend con-
cerning this star group is common to' the tribes of the
Algonquin and Iroquois Indians, and beside Ursa Major
it embraces the neighbouring constellations Bootes and
Corona Borealis. It is in the form of a drama with the
following Dramatis Personse:
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 355
The Bear a,^,'{,^, Ursae Majoris
The
Hunters
Robin
Chickadee. .
Moose Bird.
Pigeon
Bluejay . . . . ,
Owl
Saw-whet —
Pot.
Den.
V-,^,
Bootis
,Arcturus
Alcor
Bootis and the
bright stars in
Corona Borealis
The Bear is thus represented by the four stars in the
bowl of the Dipper, and behind are seven hunters pursuing
her. Here again we find the number seven associated with
this constellation.
"The first hunter was called 'the Robin' because that
star has a reddish tinge, the second 'the Chickadee* be-
cause its star is smaller than the others, the fifth hunter the
Bluejay because its star is blue. Arcturus becomes the
Owl because of its large size, and the star of the seventh
hunter, the Saw-whet, because its reddish hue suggests the
brilliant feathers which mark the head of that bird.
"Close beside the second hunter is a little star (Alcor),
which represents the Pot which he is carrying to cook the
bear meat in. Just above the hunters is a group of smaller
stars which represent the Bear's den.
" Late in the spring the Bear, waking from her long win-
ter sleep, leaves her rocky hillside den and descends Jto
the ground in search of food. Instantly the sharp-eyed
Chickadee perceives her, and being too small to under-
take the pursuit alone, calls the other hunters to his aid.
Together the seven start after the Bear, the Chickadee with
the Pot being placed between two of the larger birds so
that he may not lose his way. All the hunters are hungry
356 Star Lore of All Ages
and pursue eagerly, but throughout the summer the Bear
flees across the northern horizon and the pursuit continues.
In the autumn one by one the hunters in the rear begin to
lose their trail. First of all the Owl, heavier and clumsier
of wing than the other birds, disappears from the chase,
next the Bluejay and Pigeon also lose the trail and drop
out. This leaves only the Robin, Chickadee, and Moose
Bird. At last about mid-autumn they succeed in over-
taking their prey. The Bear at ba}' rears up and prepares
to defend herself, but the Robin pierces her with an arrow
and she falls over on her back. The Robin, in haste to
feed upon the Bear, leaps upon his victim and becomes cov-
ered with blood. Flying to a maple tree near at hand in
the land of the sky, he tries to shake off the blood, and suc-
ceeds in getting it all off save a spot upon his breast.
'That spot,' says the garrulous Chickadee, 'you will carry
as long as your name is Robin.' The blood which the
Robin shook off spattered far and wide over the forests of
earth below, and hence we see each autumn the blood-red
tints on the foliage. The Chickadee now arrives on the
scene and with the Robin cuts up the Bear, builds a fire, and
cooks the meat. The Moose Bird now appears; he knew
the others would catch the Bear and prepare the meat, and
wanted only to be on time to share it, so whenever a bear
or a moose or other animal is killed to-day you will see him
appear to demand his share. That is why he is called
'He-who-comes-in-at-the-last-moment.'
" Through the winter the Bear's skeleton lies upon its
back in the sky, but her life spirit has entered into another
Bear who also lies upon her back in the den, invis-
ible, sleeping the winter sleep. When the spring comes
around, the Bear will again issue forth from the den, to be
again pursued by the hunters, and so the drama keeps on
eternally."
With the Zunis, Ursa Major was important as marking
the seasons. They say that when winter comes the Bear
lazily sleeps, no longer guarding the westland from the
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 357
cold of the ice gods and the white down of their mighty-
breathing, but, when the Bear, awakening, growls in
the springtime and the answering thunder mutters, the
strength of the ice gods being shaken, the reign of summer
begins again.
The Chinese say that in spring the tail of the Bear (the
Micmac three hunters) points east, in summer south, in
autumn west, in winter north, — a correct statement for the
forepart of the evening.
The Ojibway Indians have a legend which relates that a
southern star came to earth in the form of a beautiful
maiden, bringing the water lilies. Her bretliren can be
seen far off in the north hunting the bear, whilst her sisters
watch her in the east and west.
The Onondaga Indians knew the stars representing the
bear's den, which is formed by the stars in the constella-
tion Corona Borealis. The Cherokees also know the
legend of the celestial bear hunt, and say that after the
three hunters have killed the bear in the fall they lose
the trail and circle helplessly around till spring. They
assert that the honey dew, which is noticeable in the
autumn, comes from the bear's fat which they are trying
out over a fire.
The Blackfeet Indians have known these seven stars of
the Dipper as seven boys, all of whom had been killed by
their sister save the youngest (the star Dubhe), who
killed her in tiirn.
The Point Barrow Eskimos recognised the stars of the
Bear with the seven hunters around him, and the Zunis
call the group "the Great White Bear of the seven stars."
These stars seem to have played an important part in
Pueblo mythology.
The Thlinkeets of the Pacific Coast regarded the stars of
Ursa Major as representing a Bear. They thought that
the Bear was so-called because its stars act so like a bear,
slowly circling about ; then too there is a den represented by
a group of stars, and no other animal save the bear has a
358 Star Lore of All Ages
den of that shape. The Micmac Indians noticed these
similarities between the position of these stars and the
habits of the bear, and they were the source of many of
the Indian legends.
According to a Basque legend, a farmer had two of his
oxen stolen by two thieves. He sent his servant in pur-
suit of them, and as he did not return he despatched his
housekeeper and dog, and finally as no one returned he
went after the thieves himself. Because he lost his temper
in his search for the oxen he is condemned to continue it
for ever, and thus we find them all represented in the seven
stars of the Dipper. The first two stars (the Pointers) re-
present the two oxen, then follow the two thieves, the serv-
ant, the housekeeper with the little dog (the star Alcor),
and lastly the farmer himself.
The Basques are also said to believe that when the Bear
is above the Pole the season is hot and dry, when below it
the season is wet.
Another legend respecting these famous stars relates
that they represent a peasant's waggon. The peasant, so
the story runs, met our Savioiu* near the shores of Galilee,
and gave him a ride in his waggon. He was rewarded for
his kindness by a place in the heavens, whither he and his
conveyance were transported.
To the Eskimos, Ursa Major represented four men carry-
ing a sick or dead man. The idea of a bier associated with
the constellation in the east seems to be embodied in this
notion of the Eskimos. The Eskimos also recognised the
Great Dipper as a herd of reindeer.
Ursa Major was used long before the invention of the
mariner's compass to guide the paths of ships at night, as
Manilius informs us:
Seven equal stars adorn the greater Bear
And teach the Grecian sailors how to steer.
These stars were equally valuable as guides to those
who travelled long distances through unknown lands.
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 359
According to Diodorus Siculus, travellers in the sandy plains
of Arabia were accustomed to direct their cotirse by the
Bears.
The Greeks made the Great Bear their guide in naviga-
tion, whereas the Phoenicians steered by the Lesser Bear.
The Greeks called the Great Bear xaXXtaxiq from the
Phoenician "kalitsah," meaning safety, as the observation
of these stars helped to a safe voyage.
Aratos wrote :
By it on the deep
Achaians gather where to sail their ships.
In the Odyssey, the sailing directions to Ulysses bid
him keep the Bear always on the left, that is, to steer due
east.
Aratos says that the Sidonians steer by the Little Bear,
and that it is preferable to the Great Bear as it is situated
nearer the Pole.
In this connection Apollonius mentions Ursa Major,
which was often called "Helice" by the Greeks:
Night on the earth pour'd darkness on the sea,
The watchful sailor to Orion's star
And Helice turned heedful.^
Among the Chinese, the Great Bear was known as a
bushel or measure of corn, the tail being the handle of the
measure. Here, as in the case of the titles "Wain,"
"Plough," and "Bier," we have a plain case of imitative
name giving.
The ancients associated the idea of dancing with Ursa
Major and the other circumpolar constellations, and they
not infrequently mention "the dances of the stars." The
two Bears were imagined as reeling around the Pole like
a pair of waltzers.
Onward the kindred bears with footsteps rude
Dance 'round the pole, pursuing and pursued.
This comparison is drawn from the circular dances of
36o Star Lore of All Ages
the Greeks, and alludes principally to the motion of the
stars in the immediate vicinity of the Pole.
. . . round and round the frozen pole
Glideth the lean white Bear.
Buchanan.
There is some little interest in Ursa Major on account
of the possibility of its being used as a kind of celestial
timekeeper. The northern sky is in reality a great clock
dial, over which hands wrought of stars trace their way
unceasingly. Moreover, it is a timepiece that is absolutely
accurate, and which requires no winding or repairing. A
line drawn through a and ^ Ursae Majoris, or "the
Pointers" as these stars are called, passes almost exactly
through the pole of the heavens. Now this line revolves
with the constellation once in twenty- four hours. On
March 21st at 10.55 P-M., the superior passage takes place;
a like passage, but invisible, occurs on Sept. 226. at 10.55
A.M. Knowing the day of the month, the time may be
derived by observing what angle the line joining these stars
makes with the vertical. In Shakespeare's King Henry
IV. the Carrier exclaims:
Heigho: an't be not four by the day I '11 be hanged
Charles's Wain is over the new chimney.
And Falstaff says:
We that take purses go by the moon and the seven stars.
Foe in one of his poems writes:
And star dials pointed to mom.
Tennyson wrote:
We danced about the May-pole and in the hazel copse
Till Charles's Wain came out above the tall white chimney tops.
And again in The Princess :
I paced the terrace till the Bear had wheel'd
Thro' a great arc his seven slow suns.
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 361
Spenser also alludes to this celestial timepiece in the
Faerie Queene:
By this the northern wagoner had set
His sevenfold time behind the steadfast starre.
In a Blackfoot Indian myth we read: "The seven Per-
sons [the Dipper] slowly swung around and pointed down-
ward. It was the middle of the night." This shows that
the Indians were accustomed to mark time at night by the
position of the circumpolar stars.
Allen tells us that the Bears have been frequently found
on the old signboards of English inns, and in a more im-
portant way are emblazoned on the shields of the cities of
Antwerp and Groningen, in the Netherlands.
The well-known talisman of good luck, the Swastika
Cross, is considered the oldest cross and symbol in the : \
world. It is said to have been familiar to primitive man "'^'^^ /
as a part of the constellation of Ursa Major, the portion
popularly known as "the Dipper." The stars that trace
the cross form the figure of a Dipper whichever way the
cross is turned.
The Arabs imagined Ursa Major and Ursa Minor to be a
gazelle and its young, and the three conspicuous pairs of
stars in the feet of the Great Bear represented to them the
footprints of several gazelles, which, according to a legend,
sprang from that spot when the Lion lashed the sky with his
tail. The Lion, so the story runs, pursued the gazelles,
and some of them jumped for safety into the Great Pond
which is formed by a group of stars in Ursa Major.
a Ursse Majoris is named " Dubhe," meaning the "Bear"
or "She Bear." The title is derived from an Arab phrase
meaning the back of the Bear. Lockyer identifies this
star with the Egyptian "Ak," meaning the "Eye," the
prominent one of the constellation. This star was utilised
in the alignment of the walls of the temple of Hathor at
Denderah, and was the orientation point of that structure
before 5000 B.C.
362 Star Lore of All Ages
The Chinese called this star "Heaven's Pivot." It is
located five degrees from ^ and ten degrees from S Ursae
Majoris, and about twenty-eight degrees from Polaris, the
Pole Star. These measures are useful to bear in mind in
estimating celestial distances.
a and ^ Ursae Majoris have been called "the Pointers,"
"the Keepers," and "the Two Stars." Dubhe is the only
star in the Dipper that is of the solar type. It is approach-
ing our system at the rate of twelve miles a second, and has
an nth magnitude companion discovered by Burnham in
1889.
^ Ursae Majoris was known to the Arabs as "Merak,"
meaning the "loin." The Chinese called it "an armillary
sphere," and the Hindus regarded it as "Pulaha," one of
the Rishis. It is of the Sirian type, a spectroscopic double,
and is approaching the earth at the rate of eighteen miles
a second.
Y Ursae Majoris, also called "Phecda" or "Phad,"
meaning the "Thigh," is approaching our system at the
rate of sixteen miles a second.
S is known as "Megrez," meaning the "Root of the
Tail." It is the faintest of the seven stars in the Dipper.
The position of Megrez and the star Caph, ^ Cassiopeias,
is peculiar. These stars are both in the equinoctial colure,
one of the great circles passing through the poles, and are
almost exactly opposite each other, and equally distant from
the Pole. Megrez is on the meridian at 9 p.m., May loth.
These four stars forming the bowl of the Dipper were
called by the Arabs "the coach of the children of the litter."
They form the hind quarters of the Bear, the frame of the
Bier, the Plough, and the Wain.
e Ursag Majoris bears the name "Alioth." According to
Gore, this is a corruption of an Arabic word meaning "the
Gulf." Alioth is approaching us at the rate of nineteen
miles a second, and very nearly marks the place of the radi-
ant point of the Ursid meteor shower of Nov. 30th. It is a
spectroscopic binar}'.
a
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 363
C, also called "Mizar," is the most interesting of all the
stars of the Dipper. Maunder says that in every way it
is the first of double stars. The fourth magnitude star
Alcor forms with it a naked eye double, and it has a closer
companion visible in the telescope. Mizar was the first
double star discovered telescopically, Riccioli having made
the discovery at Bologna in 1650. It was also the first
double star to be photographed, and the first star discov-
ered to be double by the spectroscope. In India, Mizar was
regarded as one of the seven sages. It is approaching our
system at the rate of nineteen miles a second.
T) Ursae Majoris, the last of these seven famous stars, was
called "Benatnasch," meaning the "Governor of the
Daughters of the Bier," i. e., the chief of the mourners.
It was also known as "Alcaid." In China, this star was
called "a Revolving Light," and it marks the radiant point
of the Ursid meteors of Nov. loth. It is approaching the
earth at the rate of sixteen miles a second.
Alcor is the name of the naked eye star close to Mizar.
These two stars were called "the Horse and the Rider."
In North Germany the Rider is supposed to start on his
journey before midnight, and to return twenty-foiir hours
later, his waggon turning around with a great noise. The
Arabs called this star "Suha," meaning the "Forgotten,"
"Lost,", or "Neglected One," and they also called it "the
Test," an allusion to its visibility, as those who could see it
were supposed to be keen of sight. The Arabs had the fol-
lowing proverb concerning this star:
I show him Suha and he shows me the moon.
The Arabs also called this star "Winter," and "the Little
Letter."
The Greeks identified Alcor with the lost Pleiad Elec-
tra, who had wandered away from her companions and had
been changed into a fox. A Latin title for the star was * ' the
Little Starry Horseman." In England it is called "Jack
364 Star Lore of All Ages
on the Middle Horse," and in Germany it represented
Hans the Waggoner rewarded for assisting our Saviour.
In the field with Mizar and Alcor is the so-called "Sidus
Ludovicanitim," an eighth magnitude star of a bluish
colotir. This was first observed by Einmart of Nurem-
berg in 1 69 1, and in 1723 another German, thinking he
had discovered a planet, named it after his sovereign
Ludwig V.
There are two noted stars in this constellation that re-
main to be mentioned. They are known as 1830 Groom-
bridge, and Lalande 21,185. The former has been called
"the Flying Star," or "Runaway'- Star," from the fact that
its proper motion is swifter with one exception than any
other star in the heavens. Its speed is so great that it
woiild show a displacement equal to about one third of
the apparent diameter of the moon in one hundred years.
According to Argelander, its pace will carry it around
the entire sphere in 185,000 years. Another authority as-
serts that in 6000 years it will reach the asterism known as
Coma Berenices. Its estimated speed is two hundred
miles a second, a pace that Newcomb claims is uncon-
trollable by the combined attractive power of the entire
sidereal universe.
According to Prof. Young this star is 37.5 light years
distant.
Lalande 21,185 is noted as being the nearest star to
the earth of all the northern stars. Its magnitude is 7.4,
and it is estimated to be 7.5 light years distant from the
earth.
Five of the seven stars in the Dipper, those from ^ to
^ inclusive, are moving together in the sky all very nearly
parallel to the line joining the first to the last. The re-
maining stars, a and Tj, are moving in almost an opposite
direction, and both are receding at almost the same rate
from a point in the sky not far from Vega. The accom-
panying diagram illustrates this movement. See p. 367.
Because of this drift, says Flammarion, they will form
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 365
the figure of an exaggerated steamer chair 50,000 years
hence, as they did a magnificent cross 50,000 years ago.
Since these stars are apparently getting farther apart,
they must be approaching us, a fact which the spectroscope
reveals. Their rate of speed varies from seven to ten miles
a second.
These stars are all about the same distance from us, be-
tween ninety and one hundred light years, although one
authority places the distance as high as 192 light years.
According to Ludendorfi all of the seven stars exceed our
sun in brilliancy from thirty to one hundred and twenty
times.
6 Ursae Majoris is a double star, with six other stars near
by in the throat, breast, and fore legs of the Bear. It de-
scribes a semicircle of stars which the Arabs called "the
Throne of the Mourners." This space was also known as
"the Pond," already referred to, into which the gazelles
sprang when pursued by the Lion.
t, was called "Talitha," and in China i and 6 were
known as "the High Dignitary." Holden says that the
companion of t is supposed to be a planet.
X, and ^ were known respectively as Tania Borealis and
Tania Australis. They mark the Bear's left hind foot, and
were the Arabs' "Second Spring," i.e., of the gazelle. In
China they were "the Middle Dignitary."
V and 5 mark the right hind foot of the Bear. They
were the Chinese "Lower Dignitary." The latter star
was the first binary of which the orbit was computed, says
Allen. Savary in 1828 announced its period as sixty-one
years, and this star has already made more than a complete
revolution since its discovery.
6, the star that marks the nose of the Bear, was called
"Muscida," a word Allen claims was coined in the Middle
Ages for the muzzle of an animal.
A few degrees from § is situated the so-called "Owl
Nebula." In Lord Rosse's sketch of it there is a striking
resemblance to a skull, there being two symmetrically
366 Star Lore of All Ages
placed holes in it, each of which contained a star before
1850. Since that date only one star is visible.
Twenty stars in this constellation have received in-
dividual names, — evidence enough, says Allen, of its an-
tiquity and popularity. The following is a partial list of
the titles conferred on this celebrated star group by the
various peoples of the earth from remote antiquity.
• Ursa Major was known:
^ In the Euphratean Star List — as the Lord of Heaven.
On the Assyrian Tablets — as the Long Chariot.
In Egypt— it was the Thigh, Bull's Thigh, Fore Shank,
Dog of Set, the Hippopotamus, and in later days the Car
of Osiris.
The old Hindus called it the Seven Rishis or Wise Men.
In India — it was the Seven Bears, Seven Antelopes,
Seven Bulls, Great Spotted Bull, and the abode of Seven
Poets or Sages who entered the ark with Minos.
In China — it was the Ladle, the Bushel, the Govern-
ment, the Divinity of the North, the Corn Measurer.
In Greece and Babylonia — the Chariot, the Plough,
Helice, and Callisto.
The Christian Arabs knew the four stars in the bowl of
the Dipper as the Bier or Great CoflBn, — the three stars
in the handle were the daughters of the Bier, Mary,
Martha, and their maid.
In Rome — it was the Triones, Septentriones.
To the Hebrews — ^it was a Bier.
To the Syrians — ^it was a Wild Boar.
- To the Druids — ^it was Arthur's Chariot.
The Seven Stars have also been known as the Seven Wise
Men of Greece, the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and the
Seven Champions of Christendom ; the Butcher's Cleaver,
the Big Dipper, the Brood Hen, and the Screw.
In the Middle Ages, Ursa Major was regarded by some as
one of the bears sent by Elisha the prophet to devour the
mocking boys, others thought it represented the Chariot
of Elias.
Ursa Major, the Greater Bear 367
Dr. Seiss regards it as symbolical of the heavenly sheep-
fold, and Schiller figured the Bear as the archangel Michael,
and Peter's Skiff.
In America — it was the Seven Little Indians, the
Dipper.
In England — Charles's Wain, the Plough.
In early England — ^Arthur's Wain.
In Ireland — King Arthur's Chariot. ^
In France — the Saucepan, Great Chariot, David's
Chariot.
In Italy — the Car of Bootes.
In Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Scandinavia —
Thor's Waggon, Waggon of Odin.
In Lapland — the Reindeer.
The Eskimos' name for the three stars in the tail of the
Bear was the Many Reindeer.
THE SWASTIKA CROSS.
riTP
BAJ
THS SWASTIKA.
i^ 'Cs
^
-C:
^
'^
ifr ^
t!i^ 1^
T>
^
ir
ti
t! i^r
PART. OF THE CONSTBLI.ATION URSA
KAJOK.
Ursa Minor
The Lesser Bear
34
369
Ursa Major
"■JThuban
Once the Pole Star
iXbe Pole star a
Q
\
<i
J
.V
^'- /
V
/
.eV
b.ei
/
URSA MINOR
URSA MINOR
THE LESSER BEAR
The lesser Wain
Is circling round the polar star.
Tennyson.
Ursa Minor, in its present form, seems to have origi-
jnated with the Phoenicians. It was not mentioned by
.^ Homer or Hesiod, for, according to Strabo, it was not ad-
■ mitted among the constellations of the Greeks until about
600 B.C., when Thales, inspired by its use in Phoenicia, sug-
gested it to the Greek mariners in place of the Great Bear
which hitherto had been their guide in navigating the seas.
Hence the designation of the group as "Phoinike."
Observing this Phoenicians plough the main.
Aratos.
Thales is reported to have formed it by utilising the
ancient wings of Draco.
The Greeks knew the constellation as "Cynosura" or
"the Dog's Tail"; possibly it resembled in part the up-
turned coil of the tail of a dog, although one authority
claims it is in no way associated with the Greek word for
dog.
Brown asserts that the word is not Hellenic in origin,
but Euphratean. He mentions an early constellation as
"Annasurra," meaning "high in rising," certainly an ap-
propriate title for this constellation.
Plutarch claims that the names of the Bears are derived
from the use that they were put to in navigation. He
says that the Phoenicians called the constellation that
guided them in navigation "Doube," that is, "the speaking
372 Star Lore of All Ages
constellation," and that this same word happens to mean
in that language a "bear," and so the name was con-
founded.
^ Aratos expressly states that the Greeks still (270 B.C.)
continued to steer by "Helice" (Ursa Major), while the
expert Phoenicians directed their covirse by "Cynosura"
(Ursa Minor).
Jensen identifies this constellation with "the Leopard"
of Babylonia, while on the Nile it was known as "the Dog
of Set." The figure of a jackal, which is identified with
this constellation, appears on the round zodiac of Denderah.
The jackal also appears in the carvings on the walls of the
Ramesseum.
Caesius thought that Ursa Minor represented the chariot
sent by Joseph to bring his father down into Egypt, or
that in which EHjah was carried to heaven, or the bear
which David slew.
According to mythology, the Bears were transferred to
heaven as a reward for hiding Zeus in Crete from his can-
m'bal father Kronos.
Ursa Minor was also identified with Areas the son of
Callisto, transported to the skies as he was about to slay
his mother in the guise of a bear.
The two Bears were also fabled to have ntu-sed Zeus on
Mt. Ida. Zeus, as a reward for their faithful service,
changed them into nymphs and placed them among the
stars.
The Little Bear that rocked the mighty Jove.
Manilius.
The American Indians had a legend respecting this con-
stellation which is as follows: "A hunting party of
Indians lost their way, and being in doubt which way to pro-
ceed they prayed to the gods to direct them homeward.
During their deliberations a little child appeared in their
midst and proclaimed herself to be the spirit of the Pole
Star and their guide. Following her they reached home
Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear 373
safely, and thereafter called the Pole Star 'the star which
never moves.' When the hunters died they were carried
up into the heavens, and we can see them in the stars of
the Little Dipper following the Pole Star faithfully every
clear night."
One of the Western Indian tribes regarded Ursa Minor
as a Bear, the head of the beast being represented by the
three stars forming a triangle, and its back by seven other
stars.
The Eskimos thought that this constellation represented
four men carrying a sick baby.
Ursa Minor's chief claim to recognition lies in the uni-
versal observation of its lucida, the standard second magni-
tude star Alpha, known as "the Pole Star" or "Polaris,"
and to the Greeks as "Phoenice."
This famous star, which has been called "the lovely
northern light," is the "most practically useful star in the
heavens." It is the best known and most celebrated of
all the stars.
The mariners of the ancient and modern worlds have
placed an equal faith in the guiding beams of this stead-
fast star. Phcenician barks and Roman triremes, the ships
of the Spanish Armada, and those that bore the early ad-
venturers and explorers over the unknown seas, as well as
the canoes and rude dugouts of the savages of many
lands, have all turned their prows alike in answer to its
beckoning light.
Dryden thus describes the infancy of navigation:
Rude as their ships were navigated then,
No useful compass, no meridian kn'own,
Coasting they kept the land within their ken
And knew no north but when the Pole Star shone.
The antiquity of the knowledge of this star is attested
by the fact that on the Assyrian tablets we find the Pole
Star mentioned. The fact that it appears fixed was per-
haps the first discovery made in the stellar universe.
374 Star Lore of All Ages
It was called "the Judge of Heaven," and "the High
One of the Enclosure of Light." This title was also applied
to Alpha Draconis, which was in very early times the Pole
Star.
In China, Polaris was called "the Great Imperial Ruler of
Heaven," and "the Emperor of Emperors," and it has
been from ancient times an object of worship in that land.
The ancient Mayans of Yucatan knew it as "the North
Star," "the Star of the Shield," and "the Guide of the
Merchants." In the Alphonsine Tables it bears the name
"Alruccabah," of uncertain origin. The Greeks called it
"Cynosure," and the Romans "Cynosiira." Our word
"cynosure " gets its meaning from Polaris, which has always
been the most observed of aU stars.
The Arabic name for Polaris was "the Kid," and their
astronomers called it "the star of the north." It was also
known in Arabia as "the hole in which the axle of the
earth was borne." There was a belief among the com-
mon people of Arabia that a fixed contemplation of this
star would cure itching of the eyelids.
Poets of all nations in all periods of the world's history
have sung the praises of the North Star.
Marvell writes of it :
By night the northern star their way directs.
Thomas Moore thus refers to it :
that star, on starry nights
The seaman singles from the sky,
To steer his bark forever by.
Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Rossetti, and Bryant
have all alluded to Polaris in their poems.
Dtiring the Civil War, escaping slaves and Northern
prisoners directed their way to a harbour of refuge and
home by the friendly beams of Polaris.
The Turks call the North Star "Yilduz," the star par
excellence, and have a story that its light was concealed
Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear 375
for a time after the capture of Constantinople. In Damas-
cus it was called "Mismar," a "needle" or "nail."
Other titles for the Pole Star are "the Chariot Star,"
"the Steering Star," "the Lodestar," "the Northern Axle"
or "Spindle."
It is generally supposed that the North Star marks the
true Pole of the earth, but in reality it is i° 14' distant from
the true Pole. Its mean right ascension, as given by the
Harvard Observatory List of Bright Stars, is i h 22. 6 m.,
consequently when the right ascension of the meridian
of any place is the same, Polaris will be exactly on the
meridian at that time and place, but above or below the
true Pole. The approximate location of the true Pole
may be found by drawing an imaginary line from Polaris
to X, Ursae Majoris. The Pole is on this line in the direc-
tion of 1^ at a distance from Polaris equal to about one
fourth of the distance between the Pointer stars of the
Dipper.
Polaris revolves around the true Pole once in twenty-
four hours in a little circle 2.5° in diameter. Within this
circle two hundred stars have been photographed. "Po-
laris will continue its gradual approach to the Pole till about
the year 2095, when it wiir be only^ 26' 30" away from it.
It will then recede," according to Allen, "in favour suc-
cessively of Y, %, C, V, and a, Cephei, and a, and S, Cygni,
and a Lyrse, Vega, when, marked by this last brilliant
star 1 1 ,500 years hence, the Pole will be about fifty degrees
distant from its present position and within five degrees
of Vega, which for 3000 years will serve as the Pole Star-
of the then existing races of mankind. The Polar point
will then circle past t and t Herculis, 6, t, and a,-^Dra-
conis, ^. CJrsae Majoris, and x, Draconis back to our Po-
laris again, the entire period being from 25,695 to 25,868
years according to diflEerent calculations." See accom-
panying diagram.
Polaris is from thirty-six to sixty-three light years distant
from the earth, and is receding from our system at the rate
376 Star Lore of All Ages .
of sixteen miles a second. Its spectrum is Sinan, and as a
standard second magnitude star it fiu-nishes a means of
comparison of stellar magnitudes. It has a 9.5 magni-
tude companion, sometimes regarded as a test star for
small telescopes. This faint star has two almost dark
companions revolving around it, a fact discovered by means
of the spectroscope.
Polaris is presumably about the size of the sun, and at
the distance of the nearest fixed star our sun would shine
as a star no brighter than Polaris. It is of interest to note
in passing that the North Star is elevated as many degrees
above the horizon as the observer is north of the Equator,
so that if a person were to stand at the North Pole, Po-
laris would be directly overhead.
P Ursas Minoris was known to the Arabs as "Kochab."
They also called it "the Bright One," and "the Lights of
the Two Calves." The Chinese knew it as "the Emperor."
Its spectrum is solar and it is receding from us at the rate
of about eight miles a second.
^ and Y, were known as "the Guardians or Wardens of the
Pole."
Shakespeare in Othello thus refers to them :
The wind-slak'd surge, with high and monstrous mane.
Seems to cast water on the burning Bear,
And quench the guards of th' ever fixed pole.
These stars were also called "the Dancers," and "Vigi-
les."
Allen tells us that these guardian stars were used as a
timepiece by the common people, in the same way that
Charles's Wain was used for a like purpose, as has been
referred to.
Y Ursae Minoris is a wide double, and these stars were
known to the Arabs as one star, called "the dim one of the
two calves."
The stars in the vicinity of the North Pole represented
to the Arabs a shepherd, who, with his dog, is supposed to
Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear 377
be pasturing a herd of sheep. To this group belong two
calves, three goats, four camels, and a foal. These animals
are all in the neighbourhood of Cepheus. A single camel
(represented by a star in Draco) has strayed away to
pasture alone. Two jackals and several hyenas are prowl-
ing about with wicked intentions.
The four stars in the bowl of the Little Dipper serve
as an excellent means of comparing stellar magnitudes.
The stars are ^, y, 'C, and rj, and are respectively of the
second, third, fourth, and fifth magnitudes.
Names by which Ursa Minor has been known :
In the Euphratean Star List — Circler of the Midst.
In Babylonia — The Leopard.
In Egypt — The Jackal of Set or Sati.
In Greece — Cynosura.
In Arabia — Hole bearing the earth's
axle.
[ Mount Meru.
In India — •< The Seat of the Gods.
In Scandinavia, Denmark,
Iceland —
Dhruva.
Throne of Thor.
The Smaller Chariot.
The Little Waggon.
^ The Milkmaids of the Sky.
Indians of North America — A Bear.
The Gaels called it— Fire Tail.
It has also been called "the Little Wain" or "Chariot,"
"the Little Dipper," "the Little Bear," "St. Michael," and
"the Waggon of Joseph."
Dr. Seiss regards it as a sheepfold, and the Arabs called
the three stars in the tail of the Little Bear, "the Daughters
of the Lesser Bier."
iln conclusion the writer quotes in part from Bryant's
beautiful "Hymn to the North Star":
The sad and solemn night
Hath yet her multitude of cheerful fires ;
37^ Star Lore of All Ages
The glorious host of light
Walk the dark hemisphere till she retires ;
All through her silent watches, gliding slow,
Her constellations come, and climb the heavens, and go.
And thou dost see them rise,
Star of the Pole : and thou dost see them set.
Alone, in thy cold skies.
Thou keep'st thy old unmoving station yet.
Nor join'st the dances of that glittering train.
Nor dipp'st thy virgin orb in the blue western main.
On thy unaltering blaze
The half -wrecked mariner, his compass lost,
Fixes his steady gaze,
And steers, undoubting, to the friendly coast ;
And they who stray in perilous wastes, by night,
Are glad when thou dost shine to guide their footsteps right
Virgo
The Virgin
379
~Benetnasc^
O in
UrsaMiOor
f ^
./.
o cy
,^
\_
B , ^
. Bootes •
\/
jy Arcturas
O '"
Bootes
CJorCaroU
In O
Cane* Venaticl
Berenices q o
ooqS
6
Vindemiatrix
Zavijara
VIRGO
VIRGO
THE VIRGIN
Below Bo6tes thou seest the Virgin,
An ear of com held sparkling in her hand.
Whether the daughter of Astraeus, who
First grouped the stars, they say, in days of old,
Or whencesoever, — peaceful may she roll.
Aratos.
In the astronomical records of every age and race ex-
tant we find references to the constellation of the Virgin,
and there is every reason to beHeve that it was one of the
first star groups to receive a name.
On the ancient maps, the Virgin is generally represented
as a woman with wings, in a walking attitude. In her left
hand she bears a head of wheat, or ear of corn, which is
marked by the brilliant first magnitude star Spica.
Her lovely tresses glow with starry light,
Stars ornament the bracelet on her hand;
Her vest in ample fold glitters with stars;
Beneath her snowy feet they shine, her eyes
Lighten all glorious, with heavenly rays.
But first the star which crowns the golden sheaf.
Brown gives us the following description of the constella-
tion: "Virgo is the sign the sun enters in August and was
depicted in the zodiac holding in her hands the emblems
of the harvest. The identity of Ceres, the goddess of the
harvest, with this star group is quite evident. This figure
of the fruitful Virgin was placed in the zodiac as emblem-
atic of the harvest season because the sun is in those stars
at that time. The word ' Virgo ' originally implied not only
a Virgin but any virtuous matron. By an astronomical
381
382 Star Lore of All Ages
allegory, the Virgin of August became a goddess who de-
scended to the earth, presided over the harvest, taught
mankind agricultiire, and was worshipped under various
names."
Maunder does not agree with Brown's statement that
Virgo represents the wheat harvest. He points out that
the star e Virginis is known as "the herald of the vintage,"
and the vintage comes considerably later in the year than
the harvest. Aratos asserted that Leo first marked the
harvest month, and this statement supports Maunder's
argument.
According to the poets, this Virgin was Astrasa, the daugh-
ter of Astrseus and Aurora, and the goddess of justice.
Near her appear the Scales in which, it is said, she weighed
the good and evil deeds of men. In the golden age she
resided in the earth, but becoming offended at the wicked-
ness of mankind she returned to heaven. Hesiod claimed
that she was the daughter of Jupiter and Themis, and
Aratos gives more space to the history of this constella-
tion in his celebrated poem than to any other constella-
tion. His account is in part as follows :
Once on earth
She made abcxie, and deigned to dwell with mortals.
In those old times, never of men or dames
She shunned the converse; but sat with the rest
Immortal as she was. They call her Justice.
Gathering the elders in the public fonun
Or in the open highwaj'-, earnestly
She chanted forth laws for the general weal,
Nor yet was known contention mischievous,
Nor fierce recrimination, nor uproar.
So lived they. Far off rolled the surly sea,
No ship yet from a distance brought supplies
But ploughs and oxen brought them. Queen of nations.
Justice herself poured all just gifts on man.
As long as earth still nursed a golden race
There walked she; but consorted with the silver
Rarely, and with reserves, nor always ready;
Demanding the old customs back again.
Virgo, the Virgin 383
Nor yet that silver race she quite forsook.
At evening twilight, from the echoing mountains,
She came alone. No gracious words fell from her
But when the people filled the heights around
She threatened and rebuked their wickedness.
Refusing though besought to appear again;
"How have your golden fathers left a race
Degenerate! But you shall breed a worse
And then shall wars, and then shall hateful bloodshed
Be among men; and grief press hard on crime. "
This said, she sought the mountains, and the people
Whose eyes still strained upon her, left for ever.
And when these also died, those others sprang,
A brazen race, more wicked than the last.
These first the sword, that roadside malefactor,
Forged; these first fed upon the ploughing oxen.
And Justice then, hating that generation.
Flew heavenward, and inhabited that spot
Where now at night may still be seen the virgin.
Virgo was also identified with Erigone, the daughter of
Icarius, who hung herself when she learned of her father's
death. In classic times she was associated with Ceres,
or her daughter Proserpine. Proserpine, so the legend
relates, was wandering in the fields in the springtime, and
was carried off by Pluto to be his wife. Ceres besought
Jupiter to intercede in the matter, and consequently Pros-
erpine was allowed her liberty at intervals.
This myth is regarded as an allegory. Proserpine repre-
sents the seed which is buried in the earth, and in proper
time bursts forth into bloom.
In Egypt Virgo was associated with Isis, and it was said
that she formed the Milky Way by dropping innumerable
wheat heads in the sky.
Another version of this myth is that Isis dropped a sheaf
of corn as she fled to escape Typhon, which, as he con-
tinued to pursue her, became scattered over the heavens,
thus producing the Galaxy which has all the appearance
of glittering grains of golden corn.
The Chinese call the Milky Way "the Yellow Road,"
384 Star Lore of All Ages
as resembling a path over which the ripened ears of com
are scattered.
The Egyptians represented Isis as holding three ears of
corn in her hand. In the zodiacs of Denderah and Thebes
the Virgin appears without wings, and holds in her hand
an object said to be a distaff, marked by the stars in Coma
Berenices.
In India Virgo was known as "the Maiden," and in the
Cingalese zodiac she is represented as a woman in a ship
with a stalk of wheat in her hand.
In the valley of the Euphrates the Virgin represented the
goddess Istar, the daughter of Heaven, the Queen of the
Stars. Istar was subsequently identified with Venus.
The sign of the sixth month in the Akkadian calendar
signified "the errand of Istar." According to Brown this
errand was to seek her lost bridegroom in the under
world.
In China the Virgin was called "the Frigid Maiden,"
and the Chinese made the star group led by Spica the
group of Spring.
The Arabs, who objected strongly to any drawing of
the human figure, called Virgo "the Ears," because of the
wheat ear that she held in hand, and Allen tells us that the
early Arabs made from some members of the constellation
the enormous Lion of the sky, and of others the Kennel
Corner with Dogs barking at a Lion. Later Arabian as-
tronomers referred to this constellation as "the Innocent
Maiden."
Brown, in his Stellar Theology informs us that Virgo
was identified as the goddess Rhea and adored under that
name. This goddess was figured, according to Bryant, as a
beautiful female adorned with a chaplet in which were seen
rays composed of ears of corn (i. e., wheat), her right hand
resting on a stone pillar, and in her left hand appeared
spikes of corn. By corn the ancients intended wheat-
The spikes of "wheat" in the chaplet and left hand of the
goddess Rhea are like those held in the left hand of
Photo by Brogi
Ceres
In the Vatican, Rome
Virgo, the Virgin , 385
Virgo, and emblematic of the season when the sun enters
that sign.
Rhea was the daughter of sky and earth, the mother of
Jupiter, and wife of Saturn, and also known as "Kjronos"
or "Time."
The association of Virgo with Rhea is of interest to
Masons, as the goddess Rhea is the emblem of the Masonic
Third Degree.
"Early Christian thought," says Maunder, "recognised
a reference to the promise of the 'seed of the woman' of
Genesis iii., 15, in 'the ear of com' the Virgin carries in
her hand, and the expression in Shakespeare's play of
Titus Andronicus 'the good boy in the Virgin's lap,*
refers to the mediaeval representation of the sign as the
Madonna and Child."
In the Hebrew zodiac Virgo is assigned to Napthali,
whose standard was a tree, and in the land of Judaea
Virgo was called "Bethulah."
Allen thinks that the custom of the Kern-Baby, that is
still seen along the borderland of England and Scotland,
was derived from the myths associated with Virgo, and
that the tossing of the Corn Mother, a custom of La Vendee,
was derived from a similar source.
Among the Peruvians Virgo was known as "the Magic
Mother," and "the Earth Mother." The month festival
was called "the Queen's festival," and was dedicated to the
maize as well as to women in general, who in this month only
predominated in the ritual.
Virgo has been associated with the Ashtoreth of the book
of Kings, the Astarte of S3rria, the Hathor of Egypt, and
the Aphrodite of Greece.
In Assyria it was known as "Bel's Wife." In the Eu-
phratean star Hst we find it styled "the Proclaimer of
Rain."
Dr. Seiss identified this constellation with the Virgin
Mary, and Caesius associated Virgo with Ruth gleaning in
the fields of Boaz. Schiller thought that the constellation
386 Star Lore of All Ages
represented James the Less, and Weigel regarded these
stars as the Portuguese Towers.
The very ancient Sphinx of Egypt, the Riddle of the
Ages, is thought by some to be a representation of Virgo's
head on the body of Leo.
" Astrologically speaking," says Proctor, "Virgo is the
joy of Mercury. Its natives (those bom between the dates
Aug. 22d and Sept. 23d), are of moderate stature, seldom
handsome, slender but compact, thrifty and ingenious. It
governs the abdomen, and reigns over Turkey, Greece,
Mesopotamia, Crete, Jerusalem, Paris, Lyons, etc. It is a
feminine sign and generally unfortunate. The cornflower
is the significant flower and jasper the precious stone."
The constellation is noteworthy because of the great
number of nebula found in this region of the heavens.
The space embraced by the stars §, y), y, 8 Virginis, and
Denebola in Leo, has been called "the Field of the Nebulas."
Sir William Herschel found here no less than 323 of these
mysterious objects, which later search has increased to
five hundred. This region of the sky was known to the
Arabs as "the Kennel Comer of the Barking Dogs."
The beautiful white first magnitude star "Spica," a
Virginis, is the most noted star in the constellation. It
indicates the wheat ear which the Virgin holds in her left
hand, and also signifies "the Ear of Wheat." The Arabs
called it "the Solitary, the Defenceless, or Unarmed One,"
possibly because of its isolated position in the sky. They
also knew it as "the Calf of the Lion," or "the Shin Bone
of the Lion," Leo being much greater in extent in ancient
times than is indicated by modern charts.
Spica forms with Denebola, Cor Caroli, and Arctiunis
the well-known figure of "the Diamond of Virgo."
Allen tells us that the Hindus knew this star as "Bright,"
figtuing it as a Lamp, or Pearl, while the Chinese called
it "the Horn" or "Spike." At one time in Egypt it was
known as "the Lute Bearer."
In the Euphratean star list it bears the titles, "the Star
Virgo, the Virgin 387
of Prosperity," "the Propitious One of Seed," "the One
called Ear of Corn," and "the Com Bearer."
Spica is especially interesting as furnishing Hipparchus
the data which enabled him to discover the Precession of
the Equinoxes. According to Lockyer, a temple at Thebes
was oriented to Spica as early as 3200 B.C. Other temples
oriented to this star are found at Olympia, Athens, and
Ephesus. At Rhammus there are two temples almost
touching each other, both following the shifting places of
Spica. Many other temples were dedicated to Spica, and
it seems to have been associated with the Min-worship of
the Egyptians.
Spica is a spectroscopic binary, one of those stars which
the spectroscope has shown to be attended by an invisible
companion of enormous mass. Spica's dark companion
revolves about it in a close orbit, making a complete
revolution in the remarkably short period of four days.
Spica is at such an enormous distance from us, that no re-
liable parallax has been obtained. Owing to its proximity
to the ecliptic Spica is much used in navigation. It is a
star of the Sirian type, and is said to be approaching our
system at the rate of 9.2 miles a second. The star rises a
very little south of the exact eastern point on the horizon,
and culminates at 9 p.m.. May 27th.
The star y Virginis, known to the Latins as "Porrima," is
an interesting star. Allen tells us that it is especially
mentioned by Kazwini as being the "Angle" or "Comer of
the Barker."
The Chinese knew it as "the High Minister of State."
It is a beautiful double star, and a fine sight in a small
telescope, the two stars being about equal in brilliance, 3
and 3.2 magnitudes. In 1836 they showed as a single
star, so close were they together, and consequently were in-
divisible even in the largest telescopes. Now they are 6"
apart, with a period of revolution estimated at about 190
years. Almost a complete revolution has been observed.
The star culminates at 9 p.m., May 17th.
388 Star Lore of All Ages
In the Alphonsine Tables e Virginis was called "Vin-
demiatrix," signifying "Grape Gatherer," and the heliacal
rising of this star was formerly the herald of the vintage
time. The Arabs called it "the Forerunner of the Vint-
age." In a quatrain by Admiral Smyth we are told how
to find this star :
Would you the star of Bacchus find on noble Virgo's wing,
A lengthy ray from Hydra's heart unto Arcturus bring;
Two thirds along that fancied line direct th' inquiring eye,
And there the jewel will be seen, south of Cor Caroli.
The Galaxy
or Milky Way
389
THE GALAXY
OR MILKY WAY
The Milky Way: ah, fair illumined path,
That leadeth upward to the gate of heaven.
Amelia.
Who, of all those who have turned their eyes to the
stars, has not wondered at that mysterious cloud that
twines its devious way across the sky like a river's mist,
awaiting the breath of the dawn- wind ! And who, reaHsing
that this veil that flutters across the heaven is woven of a
myriad close-set suns, has not felt a sense of awe and rev-
erence steal upon him, a spirit of humility that takes pos-
session of his soul !
The ancient Akkadians regarded the Milky Way as "a
Great Serpent," or "the River of the Shepherd's Hut,"
and " the River of the Divine Lady."
Anaxagoras, who lived 550 B.C., and Aratos knew it as
"to FocXa," "that shining wheel, men call it milk."
The Greeks called it "the Circle of the Galaxy," and
during all historic time it was regarded as "the River of
Heaven," and "Eridanus," the Stream of Ocean.
In mythology it represented the stream into which
Phaeton and the chariot of the sun were hurled by the
enraged Jupiter.
Orientals fancied here a river of shining silver, whose
fish were frightened by the new moon, which they imagined
to be a hook.
Aside from the resemblance of the Galaxy to a serpent,
and a river, the most popular notion of it among all peo-
ple and in every age has been to regard the Milky Way as a
391
392 Star Lore of All Ages
highway amid the stars, the "Via Lactea" of the ancients.
Chiefly it has been the road to heaven traversed by the
soiils of the departed.
The way to God's eternal house.
It may be interesting to review the peculiar ideas of
the ancients respecting the Galaxy.
Anaxagoras thought that the Milky Way was a collec-
tion of stars whose light was partially obscured by the
shadow of the earth.
Pythagoras said it was a vast assemblage of very distant
stars.
Democritus about 460 B.C. held that the white cloudlike
appearance of the Galaxy was due to the fact that, in that
part of the heavens, there was a multitude of diminutive
stars so close together that they illuminated each other.
It is strange that these early opinions of the Milky Way
should have been confirmed in later days when the struc-
ture of this band of light could be examined in powerful
telescopes, confirmed at least in the assumption that the
white effect was produced by the presence of a myriad of
stars.
Aristotle thought that the Galaxy was a vast mass of
glowing vapour, far above the region of the ether and below
that of the planets.
Parmenides believed that the milky colour was due to
the mixture of dense and rare air.
Metrodorus and Oinopides conceived the strange idea
that the Milky Way marked the pathway of the sun amid
the stars.
Posidonius thought that it was a compound of fire less
dense than that of the stars, but more luminous.
Theophrastus said it was the junction between the two
hemispheres which together formed the vault of heaven,
and that it was so badly made that some of the light sup-
posed to exist, behind the solid sky was visible through the
cracks.
The Galaxy or Milky Way 393
Plutarch claimed that the Galaxy was a nebulous circle
which constantly appears on the sky, and, according to
Blake, certain Pythagoreans asserted that when Phaeton
lit the universe, one star which escaped from its proper
place set light to the whole space it passed over in its
circular course, and so formed the Milky Way.
Other philosophers imagined that the Galactic Circle
was where the sun had been at the beginning of the world.
It was also believed that the Milky Way was but an
optical phenomenon, produced by the reflection of the sun's
rays from the vault of the sky as from a mirror, and com-
parable with the effects seen in the rainbow, and illuminated
clouds.
Mythology attributed the Milky Way to the milk
dropped from Juno's breasts, while she was suckling
Hercules.
In Egypt Isis was said to have formed the Milky Way
by the dropping of innumerable wheat heads.
There are many interesting legends concerning this
celebrated pathway in the skies.
The ancients painted on the great canvas of the night
skies many pastoral scenes, thus depicting features of daily
life in the far east. Among the stars, as we have seen, we
find the figure of a shepherd with his dogs watching his
flocks, and near by twines a river, the Milky Way.
According to a French tale, the stars in the Milky Way
are lights held by angel spirits to show mortals the way to
heaven.
The Greeks called the Galaxy "the road to the Palace of
Heaven." Along this road stand the palaces of the illus-
trious gods, while the common people of the skies live on
either side of them.
The Algonquin Indians believed that this was the Path
of Souls leading to the villages in the sun. As the spirits
travel along the pathway their blazing camp-fires may be
seen as bright stars.
Other Indian nations believed that the souls of the de-
394 Star Lore of All Ages
parted entered this pathway by the door situated where it
intersects the zodiac in Gemini, and left it to return to the
gods by the door of Sagittarius. The ancient Greeks and
Romans had this same notion.
According to a Swedish legend, there once lived on earth
two mortals who loved each other. When they died they
were doomed to dwell on different stars far apart. They
thought of bridging the distance between them by a bridge
of light, and this bridge is to be seen in the Milky Way.
This tale is similar to the Japanese legend of the Milky
Way, and the Star Lovers mentioned before. The Jap-
anese call the Galaxy "the Silver River of Heaven," and
believe that on the seventh day of the seventh month, the
shepherd boy-star Altair and the Spinning Maiden, the
star Vega, cross the Milky Way as on a bridge to meet
each other. This happens only if the weather is clear, so
that is why the Japanese hope for clear weather on the 7th
of July, when the meeting of the Star Lovers is made a
gala day throughout the kingdom.
The Danes regard the moon as a cheese formed by the
milk that has run together out of the Milky Way.
In some parts of Germany Odin was considered identical
with the Saxon god Irmin. Irmin was said to possess a
ponderous chariot, in which he rode across the sky along
the path which we know as the Milky Way, but which the
andent Germans called "Irmin's Way."
In the history of all nations and in all ages we find the
Galaxy likened to a way, a road, or a pathway to the land
of the hereafter.
Allen thinks that this universal idea may have come from
the fancy that the heavenly way, crowded with stars, re-
sembled the earthly road crowded with pilgrims.
The poets of all time have sung the praises of this bright
pathway of the skies, Manilius thus refers to it:
A way there is in heaven's extended plain
Which when the skies are clear is seen below
And mortals by the name of milky know;
k3 °
o a
O Oi
The Galaxy or Milky Way 395
The groundwork is of stars, through which the road
Lies open to the Thunderer's abode.
In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice we read:
The floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.
There 's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed Cherubim.
Sir John Suckling says:
Her face is like the Milky Way i' the sky,
A meeting of gentle lights without a name.
In Milton's Paradise Lost there is this beautiful refer-
ence to the Galaxy :
A broad and ample road whose dust is gold
And pavement stars as stars to thee appear
Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way
Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest
Powdered with stars.
Longfellow thus alludes to the Milky Way in Hiawatha :
Showed the broad white road in heaven,
Pathway of the ghosts, the shadows.
Running straight across the heavens,
Crowded with the ghosts, the shadows,
To the kingdom of Ponemah,
To the land of the hereafter.
When Galileo directed his newly invented telescope at
the Galaxy the mystery of its composition was solved.
Myriads of stars strewed the fields as he swept over the
misty belt, their blended light causing the white effect
the unaided eye reveals.
Allen thus sxrnis up our present knowledge of this re-
markable object :
"It covers more than one tenth of the visible heavens,
containing more than nine tenths of the visible stars, and
39^ Star Lore of All Ages
seems a vast zone-shaped nebula nearly a great circle of tht
sphere, the poles being in Coma and Cetus."
The Milky Way has been likened to sand strewn no1
evenly as with a sieve, but as if flung down by handful;
and both hands at once, leaving dark intervals, and al
consisting of stars of the 14th, i6th, and 20th magnitudes
down to nebulosity.
It is believed that the majority of stars comprising thi:
wonderful belt of stars surpass our sun in brilliancy anc
splendour. In the deep recesses of this glittering way Si]
Wm. Herschel was able to count five hundred stars reced-
ing in regular order behind each other, and in the interva
of an hotu* 116,000 stars passed him in review across th(
field of his telescopic vision.
In the constellation Cygnus, where the Milky Way ii
especially brilliant, there is a region about five degrees ir
breadth which contains, it is said, 331 ,000 stars.
Prof. Russell writing of this region says: "Here th(
Milky Way is crossed by a dark streak which immediately
suggests a passing cloud. But, year in and year out, or
the clearest nights, the dark region is there. Its origin musi
be interstellar space — perhaps in an actual thinning of th(
stars of the Galaxy, perhaps in the interposition of some
cosmic cloud of overwhelming vast dimensions."
Many think the Galaxy a universe by itself and our sur
one of its myriad stars.
"It remains the most wonderful sight that human eye;
behold. The thought of its wonderful structure, the con
templation of the splendour proximity would afford, tran
scends the very Umits of the human intellect, and gives us i
mere glimpse in imagination of the stupendous scale of £
universe of which our system is but an infinitesimal atom.'
The following are some of the titles bestowed on th(
Milky Way, and various fancies concerning it:
The Akkadians imagined it to be a Great Serpent, an(
the River of the Divine Lady.
The Greeks called it "the Circle of the Galaxy."
Photo by Prof. Bailev, Harvard College Observatory
The Milky Way in Sagittanus
The Galaxy or Milky Way 397
In Rome it was regarded as "the Heavenly Girdle," and
as a Circle.
The ancient inhabitants of Britain called it "Watling
Street."
One of the Celtic titles is "King of Fairies," and the
Celts also fancied that it was the road along which
Gwydyon pursued his erring wife.
In the mediasval ages it was known as "the Way to
Rome."
The ancient Germans called it "Irmin's Way"; Germans
to-day call it "Jacob's Road," while the French peasants
call it "St. James's Road."
The Norsemen and Scandinavians knew it as the path to
Valhalla, up which went the souls of heroes who fell in
battle. The Swedish peasantry call it "Winter Street."
In Japan and China it was known as "the Celestial
River," and "the Silver River." The Chinese also called it
"the Yellow Road."
The Arabs knew it as "the River," while the Eskimos of
the far north call it "the Path of White Ashes." The
Bushmen, far removed from these dwellers in the Frigid
Zone, thought that the Milky Way was composed of wood
ashes thrown up into the sky by a girl, that people might
see their way home at night.
The Australians call it "the fire smoke of an ancient
race." The Masai name for it is "the road across the
sky."
The Dutch, Basutos, and Zulus call it "the neck of the
sky."
The Peruvians and the Incas knew it as the "dust of
stars," while the Patagonians thought that it was the road
on which their dead friends were hunting ostriches.
The early Hindus knew it as "the Path of Aryaman"
leading to his throne in Elysium.
In the Punjab it was "the Path of Noan's Ark," while in
northern India it was "the Path of the Snake."
The Ottawa Indians believed it to be the muddy water
398 Star Lore of All Ages
stirred up by a turtle swimming along the bottom of the
sky.
The North American Indians regarded the Galaxy as the
pathway of the ghosts to the land of the hereafter, the
Pawnees believing that it was the path taken by spirits
as they pass along, driven by the wind which starts at the
north to the star in the south at the end of the way. The
Iroquois call it "the Road of Souls."
The Tahitians regard it as a shark-infested creek, and
the Polynesians knew it as the "Long Blue Cloud-eating
Shark."
It has also been called " Walsingham's Way," "the Road
to the Virgin Mary in Heaven," "Asgard's Bridge," and
"the Band."
The Hyades and Pleiades
The Hyades
399
THE HYADES AND PLEIADES
THE HYADES
Who hears not of the Hyades, sprinkling his forehead o'er ?
Aratos.
The "V "-shaped group of stars in the constellation
Taurus is known as "the Hyades," and has attracted the
attention of all mankind. Its stars outline the face of the
fierce Bull that lowers its massive head to gore the giant
hunter Orion, and the ruddy first magnitude star Aldebaran,
the lucida of the group, marks the eye of the enraged
creature.
According to Allen the Greeks knew this star cluster as
'TaSe?, which became Hyades with the culttu-ed Latins,
a title supposed by some to be derived from uetv, "to
rain," referring to the wet period attending their morning
and evening setting in the latter parts of May and Novem-
ber, and this is their universal character in the literattu'e of
all ages.
The poets call these stars the "rainy Hyades" or the
"watery Hyades." Thus Horace in his ode to the ship
bearing Virgil to Greece sings:
In oak or triple brass his breast was mailed
Who first committed to the ruthless deep
His fragile skiff . . .
Nor feared to face the tristful Hyades.
Manilius refers to them as "sad companions of the
turning year."
Pliny called them collectively "a violent and trouble-
some star, causing storms and tempests raging both on
land and sea."
36 401
402 Star Lore of All Ages
Spenser thus describes their setting:
And the moist daughters of huge Atlas strove
Into the ocean deepe to drive their weary drove.
Virgil alludes to them as "the rainy Hyades," and Tenny-
son in his Ulysses wrote:
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades vext the dim sea.
So we find them treated consistently, and always iden-
tified with a rainy period of weather.
The Romans thought that the Greek name Hyades was
derived from ue?, meaning sows, so they called these stars
"suculas" or little sows, and owing to this error much con-
fusion has arisen. Pliny accounts for the title by the fact
that the continued rains of the season of the setting of the
Hyades made the roads so miry that these stars seemed
to delight in dirt Hke swine. This explanation, however,
seems far fetched.
Isidorus claimed that the title "suculae" was derived
from "sucus," meaning moisture, which idea fits in very
well with the watery traditions that have always sur-
rounded this group of stars.
Some authorities derived the name of this group from
the letter "Y," to which its form bears a resemblance,
though the stars are grouped more in the shape of the
letter "V."
The Hyades have also been called "a Torch," "a Tri-
angular Spoon," and "the Little She Camels," the large
camel being represented by the star Aldebaran.
The Hindus saw here a temple or waggon, the Chinese, a
hand-net, or rabbit-net, but the latter generally called the
group " the Star of the Hunter" or "the Announcer of In-
vasion on the Border." They worshipped these stars as
"the General or Ruler ot Rain," from at least iioo B.C.
According to Grimm the Hyades were regarded as "the
Boar Throng" among the Anglo-Saxons.
The Hyades 403
In mythology the group were supposed to be the daugh-
ters of Atlas, and half -sisters of the Pleiades. They were
changed into stars on account of their grief for the death of
their brother Hyas.
According to another story they were the nurses of the
infant Bacchus, and the father of the gods rewarded them
for their faithful service by placing them among the stars.
Originally they were supposed to be seven in number.
Hesiod named five, and we now regard the group as con-
taining six stars. The Hyades are among the few stellar
objects mentioned by Homer.
Aldebaran, or Alpha Tauri, the lucida of the group,
rises an hour later and almost directly under the cele-
brated star cluster known as the Pleiades, and its name
indicates the fact, meaning "the hindmost" or "the
follower."
Mrs. Martin, in The Friendly Stars, gives us the fol-
lowing facts concerning this beautiftd star: "Aldebaran
is the fourteenth star in order of brightness in the entire
heavens, and the ninth among those seen in our latitude.
It is what is known as a standard first magnitude star.
It gives us about one ninety billionth as much light as the
sun, but at the same distance as the sun we would get
from it forty-five times as much light as the sun gives us.
It requires something more than thirty-two years for the
light of Aldebaran to reach the earth, which means that
it is nearly two hundred trillions of miles away. It is
increasing this distance at the rate of about thirty miles
a second but even at this rate it will require more than
ten thousand years to add another trillion of miles to its
distance."
Its red hue indicates that Aldebaran is one of the older
stars, one of the suns that like a dying ember still glows per-
sistently as if in anger at the loss of its pristine glory and the
thought of its declining power.
According to Prof. Russell the Hyades are receding from
us at the rate of twenty-five miles a second, and on the
404 Star Lore of All Ages
average its stars are about one hundred and twenty light
years distant. At this distance our sxin would appear as a
telescopic eighth magnitude star.
The group is exceedingly rich in double stars, and viewed
even in a small telescope with a low power presents a
beautiful appearance.
Serviss thus mentions the group: "The beauty of
Aldebaran, the singiilarity of the figure shaped by its at-
tendants, the charming effect produced by the flocks of
little stars, the Deltas and the Thetas, in the middle of the
arms of the letter, and the richness of the stellar ground-
work of the cluster, all combine to make the Hyades one
of the most memorable objects in the sky; but no one can
describe it, because the starry heavens cannot be put
into words."
The Pleiades
40s
THE PLEIADES
Open those Pleiad eyes, liquid and tender,
And let me lose myself among their depths.
DE VERE.
No group of stars known to astronomy has excited such
universal attention as the little cluster of faint stars we
know as "the Pleiades." In all ages of the world's history
they have been admired and critically observed. Great
temples have been reared in their honour. Mighty nations
have worshipped them, and people far removed from each
other have been guided in their agricultural and commercial
affairs by the rising and setting of these six close-set stars.
Mrs. Martin thus charmingly aUudes to them :
"The magic of their quivering misty light has always
made a strong appeal to men of imagination. Minstrels
and poets of the early days sang of their bewitchment and
beauty, and many of the great poets from Homer and the
author of Job down to Tennyson and the men of our own
day have had their fancy livened by them and in one form or
another have celebrated their sweetness and mystery and
charm."
Many have been the metaphors inspired by this famous
cluster. They have been compared to a rosette of dia-
monds, to a swarm of fireflies or bees, and the shining drops
of dew. More prosaic minds have regarded these stars as
a hen surrounded by her chickens, and some have thought
that they represented the seven virgins.
"Even with people who do not know them by sight and
have not felt the sweet influences of the Pleiades, there is a
vague memory of some story about a lost Pleiad that stirs
407
4o8 Star Lore of All Ages
an emotion suggesting something romantic and sad. The
Pleiades form in truth a delightful group of twinkling un-
fathomable stars, singularly fascinating and singularly
persistent in their brilliancy." — Mrs. Martin.
On the Euphrates the Pleiades and the Hyades were
known as "the Great Twins of the Ecliptic." The Baby-
lonians and Assyrians regarded them as a family group
without dreaming of the full significance of the title, for
modem science has proved that this group of suns have a
common proper motion, that is, they are moving through
space in the same direction, and are obviously part of one
great system that holds them fast in bonds immutable.
The patriarch Job is thought to refer to the Pleiades in
his word "Kimah," meaning "a cluster or heap," which
occurs in the Biblical passages: "[God] maketh Arcturus,
Orion, and the Pleiades and the Chambers of the South,"
and the familiar query: "Canst thou bind the sweet in-
fluences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion?"
The meaning of this inquiry has been the cause of much
conjecture and many attempts have been made to inter-
pret the sense of it. Maunder thus explains the passage:
When the constellations were first designed the Pleiades
rose heliacally at the beginning of April and were the sign
of the return of spring. Aratos wrote of them :
Men mark their rising with the solar rays,
The harbinger of Summer's brighter days.
The Pleiades which thus heralded the return of this
genial season were poetically taken as representing the power
and influence of spring. Their "sweet influences" were
those that rolled away the gravestone of snow and ice
which had lain upon the winter tomb of nature.
The question of Job was in effect, "What control hast
thou over the powers of natiu-e? This is God's work, what
canst thou do to hinder it?" Of the sweet influence of
these fair stars we read again in Milton's Paradise Lost,
where the poet sings of the Pleiades in the morning skies:
'S ^
"5 .-s
rt .5
The Pleiades 409
. . . the grey
Dawn and the Pleiades before him danced,
Shedding sweet influence."
In the New Testament we find the "Seven Stars" also
mentioned. In the first chapter of the Revelation, the
Apostle St. John writes that "he saw seven golden candle-
sticks and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like
unto the Son of Man . . . and He had in his right hand
Seven Stars. The Seven Stars are of the angels of the
seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven
churches."
The Seven Stars in a simple compact cluster, says Maun-
der, stand for the church in its many diversities, and its
essential unity. Modern almanacs designate the Pleiades
"the 7*" or "seven stars."
The Pleiades were among the first mentioned stars in
the astronomical literattu-e of China, one record of them
bearing the early date of 2357 B.C., when Alcyone, the
lucida of the group, was near the vernal equinox. The
Chinese young women worshipped these stars as the Seven
Sisters of Industry.
As might be expected, this celebrated group was the
object of worship in Egypt. There the Pleiades were
identified with the goddess Nit, meaning the shuttle, one
of the principal divinities of Lower Egypt.
The Great Pyramid, which was without doubt erected
for astronomical purposes, is closely associated with the
Pleiades, as Proctor has shown.
In the year 2170 B.C. the date at which the Pleiades
really opened the spring season by their midnight culmina-
tion, they could be seen through the south passageway of
this gigantic mausoletun. It has even been suggested
that the seven chambers of the Great Pyramid commemo-
rate these seven famous stars. Blake says: "Either the
whole of the conclusions respecting the pyramids is founded
on pure imagination, or we have here another remarkable
410 Star Lore of All Ages
proof of the influence of the Pleiades on the reckoning
of the year."
The Egyptians called this star group "Athur-ai" or
"Atauria," meaning the stars of Athyr (Hathor), a name
also given the Seven Stars by the Chaldeans and Hebrews.
From this title is derived the Latin Taurus, and the Ger-
man Thier. It is possible that this title was somehow con-
nected with the Greek letter tau, and the sacred scarabasus
or tau beetle of Egypt. It has also been suggested that
the "tors" and Arthur's Seat, which were names given to
British hilltops, may be connected with the "high places"
of the worship of the Pleiades. Arthur's Seat at Edin-
burgh is a notable example of such a site.
The Arabians called the Pleiades, "Atauria" signifying
"the little ones."
There appear to be three distinct derivations of the
word Pleiades. First, from the Greek word xXstv, mean-
ing "to sail," the heliacal rising and setting of these stars
marking the opening and closing of the season of navigation
among the Greeks.
Second, from xeXecat, meaning "a flight of doves."
Hesiod, Pindar, and Simonides all use this word. The
doves or pigeons were considered as flying from the mighty
hunter Orion. They were also said to be the doves that
carried ambrosia to the infant Zeus.
D'Arcy Thompson asserts that the Pleiad is in many
languages associated with bird names, and considers that
the bird on the buU's back on coins of Eretria and Dicasa
represents the Pleiades. We have a reduplication of this
strange position of a bird among the constellational figures
in the crow perched on the coils of Hydra.
A third derivation of the title of this group is from -rrXetoq,
meaning "full" or in the plural "many." This deriva-
tion is considered to be the correct one by the weight of
authority.
IVIany of the Greek temples were oriented to the Seven
Stars, notably temples erected as early as 1530 and 1150
The Pleiades 411
B.C., and the noted Parthenon built in 438 B.C., and in the
works of the Grecian poets we find many references to the
group.
Allen tells us that the Hindus pictured these stars as
a flame typical of Agni, the god of fire, and regent of the
asterism. The more usual representation of the group
among the Hindus was a razor; possibly the arrangement
of the stars in the group suggested this title. It is thought
that there may be a connection between the Hindu title
"Flame," and the great Feast of Lamps of the western
Hindus held in the Pleiad season, October and November,
a great festival of the dead which gave rise to the present
Feast of Lanterns of Japan.
This closely associated star group has from time im-
memorial impressed mankind with a sense of mystery.
A great cataclysm, possibly the Biblical Deluge, is in some
way connected with the Pleiades, and some reference to
such an event can be traced in many of the legends and
myths surrounding these stars that have come down to us
from nations far removed from each other.
Memorial services to the dead at the season of the year
when the Pleiades occupied a conspicuous position in the
heavens are found to have taken place, and to have been a
feature in the history of almost every nation of the earth,
from remote antiquity to the present day. The universal-
ity of this custom may well be considered one of the most
remarkable facts that astronomical history records, and it
serves to make the study of this group the most interest-
ing chapter in all stellar history. This little group of
stars, twinkling so timidly in the nights of autumn in the
eastern heavens, links the races of mankind in closer re-
lationship than any bonds save nature's. No wonder that
they have inspired universal awe and admiration, that
within this group of suns man has sought to find the very
centre of the universe.
Among the Aztecs of South America we find the Pleiades
the cynosure of all eyes, a nation trembling at their feet.
412 Star Lore of All Ages
At the end of every period of fifty-two years, in the month
of November when the Pleiades would culminate at mid-
night, these rude people imagined the world would end.
Human sacrifices were offered, while the entire popula-
tion passed the night upon their knees awaiting their doom.
Far removed from the Aztecs we find the people of Japan
in their great national festival, the Feast of Lanterns, a
feast that is alive to-day, commemorating at this same sea-
son of the year some great calamity which was supposed
to have overwhelmed the race of man, in the far distant
past, when these seven little stars were prominent in the
heavens.
In the Talmud we find a curious legend associating the
Pleiades with an all-destroying flood, expressed as follows:
"When the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to bring the
deluge upon the world. He took two stars out of the
Pleiades and thus let the deluge loose, and when He wished
to arrest it. He took two stars out of Arcturus and stopped
it."
As we have seen, the ancient Hindus, the Aztecs, and the
Japanese all had memorial festivals in the month of No-
vember. These generally occurred on the 17th of the
month.
Among the ancient Egyptians the same day was ob-
served, and although their calendar was subsequently
changed, the occasion was not lost sight of. The date of
their celebration was determined by the culmination of
the Pleiades at midnight, and on this date the solemn three
days' festival commenced. With them, as with the three
pr^iously mentioned nations, the festival was associated
with the tradition of a deluge or race-destroying calamity.
Blake says in regard to this that "when we connect the
fact that this festival occurred on the 17th day of Athyr,
with the date on which the Mosaic account of the deluge
of Noah states it to have commenced, in the second month
of the Jewish year, which corresponds to November, the
17th day of the month, it must be acknowledged that this
The Pleiades 413
is no chance coincidence, and that the precise date here
stated must have been regtilated by the Pleiades, as was
the Egyptian date." Surely this is an interesting refer-
ence to the history of these stars.
The Persians formerly called the month of November
"Mordad," meaning "the angel of death," and that month
marked the date of their festival of the dead. On the day
of the midnight culmination of the Pleiades, Nov. 17th, no
petition was presented in vain to their ancient kings.
In Ceylon, and in far distant Peru, a like festival took
place at this season of the year. In the latter country the
observation of the rising and setting of the Pleiades was the
basis of their primitive calendar.
The Society Islanders commenced their year on the first
day of the appearance of the Pleiades, which occurred in
November. This star group also marked a festival in
commemoration of the dead which took place annually
about the end of October in the Tonga Islands of the Fiji
group.
Blake tells us that the first of November was with the
ancient Druids of Britain a night full of mystery, in which
they annually celebrated the reconstruction of the world.
Although Druidism is now extinct the relics of it remain to
this day, for in our calendar we still find Nov. 1st marked
as "All Saints' Day," and in the pre-Reformation calendar
the last day of October was marked "All Hallow Eve,"
and the 2d of November as "All Souls'," indicating clearly
a three days' festival of the dead, commencing in the even-
ing, and originally regulated by the Pleiades.
In France, the Parisians at this festival repair to the
cemeteries and lunch at the graves of their ancestors.
Prescott in his History of the Conquest of Mexico, states
that the great festival of the Mexican cycle was held in
November at the time of the midnight culmination of the
Pleiades, and the Spanish conquerors found in Mexico a
tradition that the world was once destroyed when the
Pleiades ciilminated at midnight, the identical tradition
414 Star Lore of All Ages
that we find in the far east, a myth so universal as to sug-
gest a foundation of fact.
The actual observance at the present day of this festival
is to be found among the Australian savages. At the mid-
night culmination of the Pleiades, in November, they still
hold a New Year's corroboree in honour of this group of
stars, which they say are "very good to the black fellows."
The corroborees are connected with a worship of the
dead. Still another custom associated with the Pleiades
which has come down to us is the November date of our
elections; the convocation of the tribal meeting at this
time, because of the significant position of the Pleiades,
being a very ancient custom.
Many Masonic organisations of the present day have
memorial services to the dead about the middle of Novem-
ber, a survival of the universal recognition of the season
of the year as commemorating the destruction of the world,
when the Pleiades culminated at midnight.
The fall of the year was especially appropriate as a
season for memorial services for the dead, as natiu-e's life
was then at a low ebb and every prospect was suggestive
of death, and the preparation for the long sleep imposed by
winter. Thus we see in the association of this star group
with this season of the year, a link that binds the remote
past with the ever-living present in a most remarkable
manner, and no one cognisant of these facts can watch
these faintly gHmmering stars with any feelings save those
of awe and reverence.
Brown tells us that in the symbolism of Masonry the
Pleiades play a prominent part. The emblem of the Seven
Stars alludes to thi§ star group as emblematic of the vernal
equinox, thus making the Pleiades a beautiful symbol of
immortality. It was for this reason tha^ of all the "hosts
of heaven" the Pleiades were selected as an emblem.
In ancient times the appearance and disappearance of
the Pleiades was associated with meteorological condi-
tions. Statius calls them ' ' a snowy constellation. ' ' Valerius
The Pleiades 415
Flaccus speaks of their danger to ships, and Horace pict-
ures the south wind lashing the deep into storm in the
presence of these famous stars. The Romans generally re-
ferred to the Pleiades as " Vergiliae" or "Virgins of Spring."
This star cluster was also of great service to the husband-
man in marking the progress of the year. Hesiod thus al-
ludes to the Pleiades:
There is a time when forty days they lie
And forty nights concealed from human eye,
But in the course of the revolving year,
When the swain sharps the scythe, again appear.
He also refers to the rising of the Pleiades as the time for
the harvest, while the period at which they disappeared
for some time, he termed ploughing time.
The heliacal rising of this star group, that is its rising
with the sun, heralded the summer season, while its acroni-
cal rising, when it rose as the sun set, marked the begin-
ning of winter, and led to the association of the group with
the rainy season, and with floods, so often mentioned by
the poets. Aratos thus expressed its acronical rising:
Men mark their rising with Sol's setting light.
Forerunners of the Winter's glooniy night.
Valerius Flaccus used the word " Pliada" for showers, and
Josephus tells us that during the siege of Jerusalem by
Antiochus Epiphanes, in 170 B.C., the besieged wanted for
watesr until relieved by a large shower of rain which fell
at the setting of the Pleiades.
Pope in his "Spring" thus alludes to the showery nature
of the Pleiades:
For see: the gath'ring flocks to shelter tend,
And from the Pleiades fruitful showers descend.
Among the Dyaks of Bom6o, the Pleiades regulated
the seasons by their periodic return and disappearance,
and guided them in their agricultural pursuits.
4i6 Star Lore of All Ages
In South Africa, they were called the "hoeing stars,"
and their last visible rising after sunset has been cele-
brated with rejoicing all over the southern hemisphere as
betokening the summons to agrictiltiu"al activity.
The Bantu tribe called the group "the ploughing con-
stellation,'^ because its rising in the early morning in mid-
winter told the black man to ttu*n out in the cold and
plough for mealies. With the Peruvians also the Pleiades
governed the crops and harvest, and indeed were supposed
to have created them.
Four thousand years ago this star group marked the
position of the sun at the spring equinox, and this is the
principal reason why, as we have seen, it was so uni-
versally associated with the apparent wax and wane of the
forces of nature.
Many strange fables and fanaes surround the Pleiades
quite apart and entirely disassociated with their classical
mythology. The Hottentots had a curious notion con-
cerning them. They regarded the Pleiades as wives who
shut their husbands out because they missed their game.
It would be difficult to trace the origin of this singular
idea concerning these stars.
The Pleiades was the favourite constellation of the
Iroquois Indians. In all their religious festivals the calu-
met was presented towards these stars, and prayers for
happiness were addressed to them. They also believed
that the Pleiades represented seven young persons who
guarded the holy seed during the night.
An Onondaga legend concerning these stars is as fol-
lows: "A long time ago a party of Indians journeyed
through the woods in search of a good hunting ground.
Having found one, they proceeded to build their lodges
for the winter, while the children gathered together to
dance and sing. While the children were thus engaged,
an old man dressed in white feathers, whose white hair
shone like silver, appeared among them and bid them cease
dancing lest evil befall them, but the children danced on
The Pleiades 417
unmindful of the warning, and presently they observed that
they were rising little_by little into the air, and one ex-
claimed, ' Do not look back for something strange is tak-
ing place.' One of the children disobeyed this warning
and looking back became a falling star. The other child-
ren reached the high heavens safely and now we see them
in the star group known as the Pleiades."
Another Indian legend relates that "seven brothers
once upon a time took the warpath and discovered a
beautiful maiden living all alone whom they adopted as
their sister. One day they all went hunting save the
youngest, who was left to guard his sister. Shortly after
the departure of the hunters, the younger brother discovered
game and set off in pursuit of it, leaving his sister un-
protected. Whereupon a powerful buffalo came to her lodge
and carried her away. The brothers returned and in dis-
may found that their sister had been taken from them.
They immediately went in pursuit of her, only to find that
she was confined in a lodge in the very centre of a great herd
of fierce buffaloes. The younger brother cleverly tunnelled
beneath them, however, and rescued his sister, and hastened
homeward with her, where her brothers hedged her lodge
about with a very high iron fence. The buffaloes, enraged at
the escape of the maiden, attacked the seven brothers, and
battered down the fence, only to find that the maiden
and her brothers had been carried upward to the sky out of
their reach, and there they may be seen in the cloistering
Pleiades."
The Shasta Indians of Oregon have the following legend
concerning the Pleiades:
"The Coyote went to a dance with the Coon. On his
return home he sent his children after the game he had
killed, and when they had brought it in, he prepared a
grand feast. The youngest child was left out, and in
anger went to the Coon's children and told them that the
Coyote had killed their father. The Coon's children re-
venged themselves by killing all the Coyote's children,
41 8 Star Lore of All Ages
save one, while the Coyote was away from home. They
then disappeared.
The Coyote, being unable to find his children, hunted
everywhere, and asked all things as to their whereabouts.
As he was searching he perceived a cloud of dust rising, and
in the midst he saw the Coon's children and his youngest
child. He ran after them in vain, and the children rose to
the stars where they became the Pleiades." The Coyote's
child is represented by the faintest star of the group.
In winter, when Coons are in their holes, the Pleiades
are most brilliant, and continually visible. In summer, when
Coons are out and about, the Pleiades are not to be seen.
The medicine men among the Malays, in their invoca-
tions, besought the Pleiades to help them heal bodily dis-
eases. The Abipones, a tribe of Indians dwelling on the
banks of the Paraguay River in South America, thought
that they were descended from the Pleiades, and as that
asterism disappeared at certain periods from the sky of
South America, upon such occasions they supposed that
their grandfather was sick, and were under a yearly appre-
hension that he was going to die, but as soon as the seven
stars were again visible in the month of May, they welcomed
their grandfather as if restored from sickness with joyful
shouts and the festive sound of pipes and trumpets, and
congratulated him on the recovery of his health. The
hymn of welcome begins: "What thanks do we owe
thee? And art thou returned at last? Ah! thou hast
happily recovered."
Maunder tells us that in many Babylonian cylinder
seals there are engraved seven small discs in addition to
other astronomical symbols. These seven discs are ar-
ranged thus:
or
much as we would plot the Pleiades. In all probability
these discs represent this celebrated star group.
The Pleiades 419
Another name for the Pleiades was "the clusterers,"
and they are frequently represented on ancient coins by a
cluster of grapes. A coin of Mallos in Cilicia shows them
represented by doves whose bodies are formed by bunches
of grapes.
The Pleiades according to mythology were the seven
daughters of Atlas, the giant who bears the world upon his
shoulders, and the nymph Pleione. The story is, that these
seven maidens, together with their sisters the Hyades, were
transformed into stars on account of their "amiable virtues
and mutual affection." According to .^schylus they were
placed in the heavens on account of their filial sorrow at
the burden imposed upon their father Atlas.
Aratos thus records the names of these seven sisters:
These the seven names they bear:
Alcyone and Merope, Celasno,
Taygeta, and Sterope, Electra,
And queenly Maia, small alike and faint.
But by the will of Jove illustrious all
At mom and evening, since he makes them mark
Summer and winter, harvesting and seed time.
One myth concerning the Pleiades relates that they were
so beautiful in appearance that Orion unceasingly pursued
them, much to their discomfiture. They appealed to Ju-
piter for assistance and he pitying them changed them
into doves. Thereupon they flew into the sky and found a
refuge among the stars.
The Smith Sound Eskimos have the following legend con-
cerning the Pleiades, which group they call "Nanuq,"
meaning "the Bear": "A number of dogs were pursuing
a bear on the ice. The bear gradually rose up in the air as
did the dogs until they reached the sky. Then they turned
to stars and the bear became a larger star in the centre
of the group, and is represented by the star Alcyone."
One of the seven stars in this cluster is not as brilliant
as the others and this star the Greeks called "the Lost
Pleiad."
420 Star Lore of All Ages
The tradition that one of the stars of this group has been
lost or has grown dim is very ancient and almost universal.
It is found among nations far removed from each other and
has survived to the present day. It is found in Greece,
Italy, and Australia, among the Malays in Borneo, and the
negroes of the Gold Coast.
Miss Gierke writes: "Variants of the classical story of
the 'Lost Pleiad' are still repeated by sable legend-
mongers in Victoria, by head-hunters in Borneo, by fetish
worshippers amid the mangrove swamps of the Gold Coast.
An impression thus widely diffused must either have spread
from a common source or originated in an obvious fact;
and it is at least possible that the veiled face of the seventh
Atlantid may typify a real loss of light in a prehistorically
conspicuous star."
Byron thus alludes to this mysterious star:
Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below;
and Aratos wrote:
As seven their fame is on the tongues of men,
Though six alone are beaming on the eye.
There is little doubt that originally one of these stars was
brighter than it now appears. Some of the Pleiades are
known to be varia,ble, and one of them may have lost lustre
at some time far remote, a fact that may account for the
tradition of a lost star.
It is interesting to review the myths and legends of the
Lost Pleiad and the ingenious suggestions that have been
made to account for its apparent loss of brilliancy.
As to which of the seven sisters disappeared mythology
is uncertain. According to one story it was Electra, the
mother of Dardanus, the founder of Troy, who hid her face
in order that she might not see the destruction of that city.
The Greeks claimed that the Lost Pleiad was Merope, who
marrying a mortal, and feeling disgraced, withdrew from
the company of her sisters. Some said the seventh Pleiad
The Lost Pleiad
By Randolph Rogers
The Pleiades 421
was struck by lightning, others that it was removed into
the tail of the Great Bear. There is a myth that while a
terrible battle was being waged on the earth, one of the
sisters hid herself behind the others. The Iroquois Indians
also had a legend respecting this famous star that appears to
have been lost. They imagined that the Lost Pleiad was a
little Indian boy in the sky, who was very homesick. When
he cried he covered his face with his hands and thus hid
his light. The legend is as follows: "Seven little Indian
boys lived in a log cabin in the woods, and every starlight
night they joined hands and danced about singing the
'Song of the Stars.' The stars looked down and learned
to love the children, and often beckoned to them. One
night the children were very much disappointed with their
supper, and so when they danced together and the stars
beckoned to them, they accepted the invitation and be-
took themselves to Starland, and became the seven Plei-
ades, and the dim one represents one of the little Indian
boys who became homesick."
According to another legend concerning the Lost Pleiad,
known to be current among the blacks of Australia, this
star group represented a queen and her six attendants.
Long ago the Crow (our Canopus) fell in love with the
queen, who refused to be his wife. The Crow found that
the queen and her attendants were wont to hunt for white
edible grubs in the bark of trees, and changing himself into
a grub hid beneath the bark. The six maidens sought in
vain to pick him out with their wooden hooks, but when the
queen tried to draw him out with a pretty bone hook he
came out, and assuming the shape of a giant ran away
with her. Ever since that time there have been only six
stars in the group.
Aratos wrote of the number of the Pleiades :
Seven paths aloft men say they take,
Yet six alone are viewed by mortal eyes.
From Zeus' abode no star unknown is lost
Since first from birth we heard, but thus the tale is told.
422 Star Lore of All Ages
Euripides mentions these "seven paths," and Eratos-
thenes calls them "the seven-starred Pleiad," although he
describes one as "all invisible."
The South Sea Islanders' myth concerning the Pleiades
relates that these stars were once a single star which shone
with such a clear lustre as to incur the envy of the god
Tane, who was in league with the stars Aldebaran and Sirius
and followed the Pleiades. Tane in his anger hurled Alde-
baran at this bright star and broke it up into six parts,
each of which became a star.
The blacks of Victoria, Australia, have a myth in which
the Pleiades are considered a host of young wives. An-
other myth relates that these stars were once pretty
maidens on the earth who were followed by some yoimg
men called "the Beriberi." To get away from them, the
girls climbed into the tree-tops, and thence sprang into
the heavens, where they were transformed into shining
bodies. One maiden remained behind. She was called
"the shy one," and is represented by the least bright star
in the group. The Beriberi were eventually placed in the
heavens where they appear in the girdle of Orion.
In the Solomon Islands the Pleiades were also called a
company of maidens.
The Dyaks and the Malays of Borneo imagine the Plei-
ades to be six chickens followed by their mother, who re-
mains always invisible. At one time there were seven
chickens, but one of them paid a visit to the earth, and there
received something to eat. This made the hen very angry
and she threatened to destroy the chickens, and the people
on the earth. Fortunately the latter were saved by Orion,
the mighty hunter. At that period of the year when the
Pleiades are invisible the Dyaks say that "the hen broods
her chickens." When these stars are to be seen they say
"the cuckoo calls."
The North American Indians call the Pleiades "the
dancers," while the South American Indian name for the
group is "the six stars." The cluster has also been Ukened
The Pleiades 423
to a necklace of brilliant gems, and popularly associated
with the "little she goats" that Sancho Panza saw on his
aerial excursions.
We come now to a consideration of the individual stars
of this celebrated group. Alcyone, the brightest of the
Pleiades, represents in the sky the Atlantid nymph who
became the mother of Hyrieus by Poseidon. It is some-
times called "the light of the Pleiades." The Arabs called
it "the bright one " and "the Walnut." Alcyone is famous'
as locating the supposed centre of the universe, the point
about which the starry heavens revolved. The German
astronomer Madler held this view, but there is no satis-
factory reason for his opinion. Alcyone has three com-
panion stars, and the three form a beautiful little triangle, a
fine sight in a small telescope. The star culminates at 9 p.m. ,
on the last night of the year. Miss Gierke considers that
Alcyone exceeds the sun in brilliancy one thousand times.
Beyond the moons that beam, the suns that blaze,
Past fields of ether, crimson, violet, rose,
The vast star-garden of eternity,
Behold: it shines with white, immaculate rays,
The home of peace, the haven of repose.
The lotus-flower of heaven, Alcyone.
Frances Mace.
The star Maia represents the oldest and most beautiful
of the sisters, and some have said that this star was the
brightest of the group. Maia married Jupiter and became
the mother of Mercury, of whom Shelley sings :
Farewell, delightful boy,
Of Jove and Maia sprung — never by me
Nor thou, nor other songs, shall unremembered be.
It was discovered in 1884 that Maia was surrounded by a
nebulous cloud, while later and more perfect photographs
showed that this was also true of nearly all the stars of the
group.
Electra was the mother of Dardanus, the founder of
Troy, and the ancestor of Priam and his house. Aghast
424 Star Lore of All Ages
at the fall of Troy, she fled from her sisters that she might
not be obliged to gaze on the destruction of the city so pre-
cious in her sight. According to another story she veiled
her face so that she could not see the city's fall. Because
of these stories respecting her, she has often been regarded
as the Lost Pleiad. Ovid called her "Atlantis," personify-
ing the family.
Merope made the mistake of marrying beneath her.
Her sisters chose gods for husbands, whereas she selected
a mortal, Sisyphus, King of Corinth. She subsequently
repented her choice, and hid her tace in shame. On this
account she is thought by some to be the Lost Pleiad. Her
name signifies mortal, and Allen tells us that the star is en-
veloped in a faintly extended triangular nebulous haze,
visually discovered by Temple in 1859.
Taygeta was the patron goddess of Sparta, since her son
Lacedasmon founded that State.
Calaeno is said to have been struck by lightning, and
consequently is thought by some to be the Lost Pleiad.
Sterope, it is said, married CEnomaus. Their offspring
was Hippodaima, a beautiful maiden. The star is a double
one, as is Taygeta, and also lays claim to the distinction of
being the Lost Pleiad.
Atlas, the father, has his star. Riccioli called the star
"Pater Atlas." It represents the mighty man, who, con-
demned to bear the dome of heaven on his shoulders, was
transformed into a mountain. It is a double star and I be-
lieve it does not bear claim to be the Lost Pleiad.
Pleione was the mother of the seven sisters, and her star
may be the true Lost Pleiad, as the spectroscope reveals
evidence of its variable character. It has been suggested
that the Lost Pleiad may have been a nova, that is, a star
which flashed out brilliantly for a time, only to fade away
as its fires grew cold.
With the unaided eye seven stars can be seen in this
group, although persons possessed of very keen eyesight
have been able to count as many as fourteen stars. With a
The Pleiades, Showing Nebula
(Brace 24-inch Telescope.) Courtesy of Prof. E. C. Pickering
The Pleiades 425
good telescope six hundred stars have been counted, while
in a photograph of the cluster taken in 1888 no less than
two thousand three hundred and twenty-six stars were
revealed.
Of this great galaxy of suns all are drifting across the
heavens in the same direction. Two of the stars seem to be
hunying on in advance, like heralds announcing the com-
ing of a host, and six are straggling behind as if wearied
by their ceaseless journeying.
The Pleiades are said to be two hundred and fifty light
years distant from our system. Our sun removed to this
enormous distance would appear as a telescopic star of
the tenth magnitude, barely discernible in a three-inch
telescope.
Another fact of interest concerning this wonderful star
group is that the spectroscope reveals that all these stars
are similar in make-up. They all appear to be the product
of a common moidd, and are in that great class of stars of
the Sirian type.
In addition to this the entire group is enshrouded in a
nebtdous haze, a net that seems to hold its contents fast.
Tennyson well describes the cluster in his line :
Like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.
Bayard Taylor likened the Pleiades to a swarm of bees
upon the mane of Taurus.
Astrologers considered the Pleiades eminent stars, but
they denoted accidents to the sight or blindness.
The following list of titles given to this famous star group
by the nations of the world ancient and modem attests the
fact that of all the stars the Pleiades are the best known and
the most celebrated.
NAMES GIVEN TO THE PLEIADES
NAME SOURCE
The Great Twins On the Euphrates
A Family Group | Babylonians
The Many Little Ones f
426
Star Lore of All Ages
NAME
SOURCE
Herd of camels )
The little ones f
Arabians
A Flame, a Razor
Hindus
Seven sisters of Industry
Chinese
Seven Sisters
Seven Stars
The Bible
A cluster or heap )
Booths of the maidens
The Rabbis
Flock of Clusterers
Aratos
Rock pigeons flying from Orion )
Atlas-born, Seven Virgins 3
TTpciod
A. MK^fiJ-L\J\^
A Coat of Arms for the merchants )
Seven Doves f
iEschylus
Narrow cloudy train of female stars ) ^^ .,. _
The Rounded Asterism J
ivxaiuiJius
Virgin Stars
Virgil
Vergiliae or Virgins of Spring
The Romans
The Baker's peel or shovel
Gaelic
Young Girls
Australians
Wives who shut out their husbands
Hottentots
A season )
Tau )
, Polynesians
The hoeing stars
South Africans
A company of maidens
Solomon Islanders
Grandfather
Abipones
The Six Stars
S. A. Indians
The Dancers
N. A. Indians
A Sieve
Finns
Mosquito Net
French peasants
The Setting Hen
Russians
Old wives
Poles
Dog baiting a bear
Norse
The Close Pack
Welsh
Starry Seven, old Atlas* children
Keats
Seven Atlantic Sisters )
Hesperides S
Milton
The Pleiades 427
NAME SOURCE
Seven Little Nanny Goats Sancho Panza
Hen with her chickens )
Little Dipper Y Poptilar names
A Heap, a troop }
The Minor Constellations
429
46M
THE MINOR CONSTELLATIONS
Argo Navis
Camelopardalis
Columba Noas
Coma Berenices
Lacerta
Leo Minor
Lynx
Monoceros
Sagitta
Sextans
Scutum Sobiescanum
Triangulum
Vulpecula cum Ansere
The Ship Argo
The Giraffe
Noah's Dove
Berenice's Hair
The Lizard
The Lesser Lion
The Lynx
The Unicorn
The Arrow
The Sextant
Sobieski's Shield
The Triangle
The Fox with the Goose.
ARGO NAVIS
THE SHIP ARGO
Against the tail of the Great Dog is dragged
Stemward the Argo, with no usual course
But motion contrary.
• ••••••
So stemward labours the Jasonian Argo
Obscure in parts and starless, as from prow
To mast, but other portions blaze with light.
Frothingham's Aratos.
Argo can hardly be called a minor constellation, and
owes its place under such a heading to the fact that in
these latitudes but a very small part of it is visible, so
that only a brief reference to it is necessary.
431
432 Star Lore of All Ages
The Ship, or Argo as it is generally called, lies entirely in
the southern hemisphere, east of Canis Major and south
of the Unicorn and Hydra. Only the few stars represent-
ing the stern of the ship can be seen in the latitude of New
York City.
The Ship is figured without a prow, one of the best evi-
dences that chance had no part in the invention of the
constellation.
According to mythology Argo was built either by Glau-
cus, Jason, Argos, or Hercules. It was famous as the first
craft that ever ventured to sea, and as the one that bore
the Argonautic expedition to Colchis on its quest of the
Golden Fleece.
To the Egyptians it represented the ark that bore Osiris
and Isis over the Deluge.
Sir Isaac Newton fixed the date of the building of this
celebrated craft as 936 B.C.
With the Romans it was generally "Argo," or "Navis,"
and the Arabs called it "a Ship." To the Biblical school it
represented Noah's Ark.
The lucida of the constellation, never seen in these lati-
tudes, is the first magnitude star Canopus.
CAMELOPARDALIS
THE GIRAFFE
The GiraflEe, described as "a long, faint, and straggling"
constellation, first appeared on the star map of Bartsch in
1640. It is also found in the catalogue of Hevelius pub-
lished in 1690, as Camelopardalus.
Prof. E. C. Pickering tells us that the correct spelling
according to the best classical authorities, both Greek and
Latin, is Camelopardalis.
Bartsch wrote that the group represented to him the
camel that brought Rebecca to Isaac.
The Chinese are said to have located seven asterisms
within the borders of this star group.
The Minor Constellations 433
According to Argelander the constellation contains eighty-
four stars, none brighter than the fourth magnitude.
COLUMBA NO^
noah's dove
The surer messenger,
A Dove sent forth. . .
The Dove first appeared on Royer's star map of 1679,
although Allen tells us that it had appeared seventy-six
years before on Bayer's plate of Canis Major. It is thought
also that Caesius alluded to it seventeen centuries ago.
The asterism comprises the stars to the south and west of
the Greater Dog, and is appropriately situated close to the
Ship, which is identified with Noah's Ark.
Alpha Columbae bears the modern titles "Phaet,"
"Phact," and "Phad." The Chinese called this star "the
Old Folks."
Lockyer asserts that twelve different Egyptian temples
were oriented to this star, notably those at Edfu and Philae
where Phaet was worshipped as far back as 6400 B.C.
Allen considers the star too inconspicuous to warrant
such prominence.
Phaet is a 2.5 magnitude star, situated 33" south of 8
Orionis, and culminates at 9 p.m., Jan. 26th.
Beta Columbae is known as "Wezn" or "Wazn," mean-
ing the "weight."
According to Gould, Columba contains seventeen stars.
COMA BERENICES
Berenice's hair
Now behold the glittering maze of Berenice's hair.
Eratosthenes was the first to mention this faint yet
beautiful cluster, and called it "Ariadne's Hair," but
as
434 Star Lore of All Ages
Tycho Brahe was the first one to catalogue it as a separate
constellation in 1602.
Catullus, in his translation of the Greek of Callimachus,
thus refers to the location of Coma Berenices:
Just by the Virgin in the starry sphere,
The savage Lion and Northern Bear
Full to the west with sparkling beam I lead,
And bright Bootes in my course precede.
Allen thinks that the group was known to the Egyptians
as "the Many Stars." Other titles for it are "Berenice's
Periwig," "Rosa," and "Berenice's Bush," and the figure
has been thought to represent the tuft of hair in the Lion's
tail, and the sheaf of wheat held by the Virgin.
, The Chinese took a great interest in this group, and gave
it many fanciful names.
Burritt gives the following brief history of the constella-
tion: "Berenice was of royal descent, and a lady of great
beauty, who married Ptolemy Soter or Euergetes, one of
the kings of Egypt, her own brother. When he was going
on a dangerous expedition against the Assyrians she vowed
to dedicate her hair to the goddess of beauty, if he returned
in safety. Sometime after the victorious return of her
husband the locks, which she had deposited in the temple
of Venus, disappeared. The King expressed great regret at
the loss, whereupon Conon his astronomer publicly re-
ported that Jupiter had taken away the Queen's locks from
the temple and placed them among the stars in this figure." '
According to Argelander there are thirty-six stars in this
group.
LACERTA
THE LIZARD
This asterism was designed by Hevelius, and comprises
the stars between Cygnus and Andromeda.
' The early Christians thought that this cluster represented the
Scourge of Christ, Absalom's hair, or Samson's Hair.
Photo by Brogi
Berenice
Bronze Bust in National Museum, Naples
The Minor Constellations 435
The original figure drawn by Hevelius is described as
"a. strange weasel-built creature with a curly tail."
The Chinese knew the stars in this region of the sky as
"the Flying Serpent," and in Royer's chart, pubHshed in
1679, these stars formed the star group known as "the
Sceptre and Hand of Justice."
Argelander mentions thirty-one stars in this constella-
tion, none brighter than 3.9 magnitude.
Lacerta culminates about the middle of April.
LEO MINOR
THE LESSER LION
The Smaller Lion now succeeds; a cohort
Of fifty stars attend his steps.
Hevelius introduced this star group in 1690, forming it
from eighteen stars situated between the Greater Lion
and Bear. He gave it this title as he said it "partook of the
same nature" as the neighbouring figures.
The Chinese included the Greater and Lesser Lion in
their great figure of the Dragon.
The zodiacal Crab of the zodiac of Denderah is located in
this figure, and this part of the sky was thought to have been
sacred to the god Ptah.
Argelander assigned twenty-one stars to this group, none
brighter than the fourth magnitude.
LYNX .
THE LYNX
The Lynx first made its appearance as a constellation in
1690 on the star map of Hevelius. Originally it was said to
contain nineteen stars, which number Burritt has increased
to forty-four.
The inventor accounted for the title on the ground that
436 Star Lore of All Ages
"it was so inconspicuous a star group that only a lynx-
eyed person could discern it."
The Lynx has been known as "the Tiger," and is noted
for the number and beauty of its double stars, of which
fifty are mentioned in Webb's Celestial Objects. The
constellation comes to the meridian in February.
MONOCEROS
THE UNICORN
The Unicorn is generally supposed to have been designed
by the astronomer Bartsch, but Olbers and Ideler claim
that it was invented as early as 1564, and Scaliger is said
to have found it on an ancient Persian sphere.
It is situated in the space between Orion, the two Dogs,
and the Hydra. The Chinese asterisms, "the Four Great
Canals" and "the Outer Kitchen," lay in this region of the
sky.
Argelander assigned sixty-six stars to it, and Heis one
hundred and twelve.
Monoceros contains many fine star clusters, but no stars
brighter than a 3.6 magnitude.
SAGITTA
THE ARROW
There *s further shot another Arrow
But this without a bow. Towards it the Bird
More northward flies.
Aratos.
This ancient figure is situated in the Milky Way directly
north of the Eagle, and has occasionally appeared as held
in the Eagle's talons.
" It has been regarded as the traditional weapon that slew
the eagle of Jove, or the one shot by Hercules toward the
adjacent Stymphalian birds." — ^Allen.
The Minor Constellations 437
Eratosthenes considered it to be the shaft with which
Apollo exterminated the Cyclops, and it has been regarded
as the Arrow of Cupid.
In classical times Sagitta was thought to represent the
Reed from which arrows were formed.
The Hebrews, Armenians, Persians, and Arabians all
knew it as an Arrow.
Caesius considered it the shaft winged by Joash at
Elisha's command, or one of those sent by Jonathan to-
wards David at the stone Ezel.
Schiller thought it represented the spear or the nail of
the Crucifixion.
According to Argelander it contains sixteen naked eye
stars, none brighter than the fourth magnitude.
It culminates on Sept. ist.
^ Sagittas is a triple star, and "an interesting system,"
says Allen.
SEXTANS
THE SEXTANT
This is a modem asterism sometimes called "Urania's
Sextant," and first appeared on the chart of Hevelius which
was published in 1690.
This celestial Sextant is supposed to commemorate the
sextant so successfully used by Hevelius in taking stellar
measurements at Dantzig from 1658 to 1679.
The astronomer von Rheita imagined that this group
represented Saint Veronica's Sacred Handkerchief.
The original figure of the Sextant comprised the twelve
unclaimed stars between Leo and Hydra, west of Crater,
and it has been generally recognised by astronomers since
the date of its invention.
The lucida of the group, a fourth magnitude star, is
situated 12° south of Regulus.
According to Argelander the Sextant contains seventeen
naked eye stars.
438 Star Lore of All Ages
SCUTUM SOBIESCANUM
SOBIESKI'S SHIELD
Hevelius was the first to introduce this figure, which ap-
peared in his star chart of 1690. It is situated in the Milky
Way, west of Aquila, between the tail of the Serpent and
the head of Sagittarius.
The figure is that of the Coat of Arms of the third John
Sobieski, King of Poland, a distinguished warrior.
The group is generally styled "Scutum," and, accord-
ing to Heis, contains eleven stars, none brighter than the
fourth magnitude.
In China these stars comprise an ancient figure known as
"the Heavenly Casque."
There are several fine clusters in this region, and it is
said that within the boundaries of Scutum, in a space five
degrees square. Sir Wm. Herschel estimated that there were
331,000 stars.
TRIANGULUM
THE TRIANGLE
Beneath Andromeda. Three lines compose
The Triangle. On two sides measured equal,
The third side less. It is not difficult
To be discerned. More luminous than many.
Frothingham's Aratos.
The Triangle is an asterism of considerable antiquity,
and was evidently more noticed by the ancients than by
us.
It is situated between Andromeda and Aries, and in the
following allusion to it by the poet Manilius there is a re-
ference to its early Greek title, AeXtwtov, from the like-
ness the figure bears to the Greek letter Delta (A) :
Five splendid stars in its unequal frame
Deltoton bears, and from the shape a name.
The Minor Constellations 439
With the Romans and astronomers of the 17th century
it was known as " Deltotimi." It was also called " Delta,"
and associated with Egypt and the Nile, hence its title "the
Home of the Nile."
The Triangle has been likened to the Trinity, and the
Mitre of St. Peter.
The figtire is noted as marking the location of the dis-
covery of the minor planet Ceres by Piazzi, Jan, i, i8oo.
The 3.6 magnitude star Alpha Trianguli bears the title
"Caput Trianguli." It culminates at 9 p.m., Dec. 6th.
a and ^ Trianguli were known as "the Scale Beam."
According to Argelander the group contains fifteen stars.
VULPECULA CUM ANSERE
THE FOX WITH THE GOOSE
This is one of several constellations invented by Hevelius
in 1690, and appearing for the first time in his star chart
pubHshed in that year.
It is situated between the Arrow and the Swan, where the
Milky Way divides into two branches.
Hevelius is said to have selected this figure because of its
appropriateness to its position, as the fox was a cunning
and voracious animal, and was placed near the Eagle and
Vulture which are of the same rapacious and greedy nature.
The figure is now generally known as "Vulpecula," and
contains a noteworthy object in the " Double-headed Shot "
or "Dumb-Bell nebula." The group also marks the radi-
ant point of the "Vulpeculids," a meteor shower appear-
ing from June 13th to July 7th.
According to Argelander the asterism contains thirty-
seven stars.
Appendix
441
OArcturos
in
Bootes
Q Benetnasch
in
Ursa Hajoc
_, Cor Carol!
O In
Canes Venatici
Over
Head
COMA BERENICES
Denebola
in Leo O
Vindemiat)dDc
in
Virgo
COMA BERENICES
APPENDIX
THE BRIGHTEST STARS VISIBLE IN LATITUDE 4o"'N.«
STAR MAGNITUDE
The Sun -25.4
Sinus -1.58
Vega 0.14
Capella 0.21
Arcturus 0.24
Rigel 0.34
Procyon 0.48
Altair 0.89
Aldebaran 1.06
Pollux 1. 2 1
Spica 1.21
An tares 1.22
Fomalhaut 1. 29
Deneb 1.33
Regulus 1.34
Castor 1.58
e Canis Majoris 1. 63
e Ursae Majoris 1.68.
Bellatrix 1.70
X Scorpii 1. 7 1
e Ononis 1.75
/3 Tauri 1.78
o Persei 1.90
f Ononis 1.9^1
17 Ursae Majoris 1.91
y Geminorum 1.93
• With the exception of the estimate of the sun's magnitude the list
is taken from the Harvard Observatory Catalogue.
Other results for the stellar magnitude of the sun are as follows:
Wollaston: —26.6
Bond: -25.8
ZoUner: —26.6
The sun gives us: 10,000,000,000 times the light of Sirius.
443
444
Star Lore of All Ages
LIGHT-GIVING POWER OF THE STARS, SUNLIGHT BEING
EQUAL TO UNITY»
SIRIAN STARS
Procyon 25
Altair 25
Sinus 40
Regulus 1 10
Vega 2050
SOLAR STARS
Aldebaran 70
Pollux 170
Polaris 190
Capella 220
Arcturas 6200
The total light of the stars is estimated as equal to ^^of that of
the full moon.
NEAREST LUCID STARS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Distance in Light Years according to
Star Name
Magni-
tude
Todd
Russell
Gore
Yale
Univ.
Young
New-
comb
Sirius
-1.6
8.5
8.6
9
8.6
8
T Ceti
3.6
9-7
10.2
10
Procyon
61 Cygni
Altair
0.5
5-6
0.8
12
7.2
16
10
10
14
9.8
II. I
I4.I
10.9
8
13-6
10
7.3
14
Vega
Aldebaran
Capella
Polaris
Arcturus
0.1
I.O
0.2
2.1
0.2
27
32
32
47
160
40
32
40
46
160
28
34
21.7
29.6
44
29
29
36
54
108
P Cassiopeise
2.4
32
21
Of the fainter stars in the northern hemisphere the 7.4 magnitude
star Lalande 21 185 is probably the nearest star to the earth. The
average distance as estimated by different authorities is 7.5 light years.
The distance of the first magnitude star a Centauri in the southern
hemisphere, probably the nearest star to the earth, is given by all
authorities as 4.3 light years. This distance is better realised if we
adopt Prof. Young's comparison: If the distance from the earth to
the sun were 215 ft. the distance from the earth to a Centauri would
be 8000 miles.
On the scale measured at Yale University the mean distance of stars
of the first magnitude is 36.5 light years, second magnitude stars 58
light years, and those of the third magnitude 92 light years.
' From calculations made by Maunder.
Appendix
445
NUMBER OF THE STARS »
First Magnitude
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Ninth
Tenth
30
65
200
500
1400
Sooo
20000
68000
240000
720000 1,055,185
The lucid, or naked-eye, stars comprise the first six magnitudes.
A 5" telescope reveals stars down to the 12th magnitude, and Prof.
Ritchey of the Mt. Wilson Observatory using the new 60' reflector has
photographed by four-hour exposures stars probably as faint as the
20th or 2 1 St magnitude. It has been estimated that the total number
of stars within " our ken photographically speaking is possibly 125
million.
Oldest Stars
(Red)
Next in Order
(Yellow)
Youngest Stars
(White)
Antares
Aldebaran
Betelgeuse
Our Sun
Capella
Pollux
Arcturus
Sinus
Deneb
Procyon
Spica
Altair
Regulus
PERIODIC COMETS
Name
Last Perihelion
Period in Yeai^
Next Return
En eke
Brorsen
Tempel Swift
De Vico Swift
Tempel II
Finlay
Wolf
Sept, 15, 1901
Feb. 25, 1890
June 5, 1897
Apr. 27, 1901
Oct. 4, 1898
Feb. 17, 1900
July 5. 1898
3-3
5-45
5-54
6.4
6.5
6.5
6.8
1911
1913
1914
1911
1913
1912
' From Tcxid's Astronomy.
446
Star Lore of All Ages
PERIODIC COMETS
Name
Last Perihelion
Period in Years
Next Return
Holmes
Faye
Tuttle
Pons Brooks
Olbers
HaUey
Apr. 29, 1899
Jan. 23, 1 88 1
May 5, 1899
Jan. 26, 1884
Oct, 19, 1887
May 17, 1910
6.8
7-5
13.6
715
72.6
76
1913
1911
1913
PROPER MOTION OF THE STARS
(The angular motion across the line of sight.)
Speed in Miles
5 per Second
Star Name
Pritchard
Young
P Cassiopeise
10
0 "
2
61 Cygni
35
37
Polaris
2.5
1.8
a Arietis
8
a Persei
I
Elkin
Aldebaran
4
5.1
Capella
II
Sirius
9
lO.I
Procyon
13
12.2
Pollux
27
Regulus
8
Vega
31
71
Altair
9
8.0
Miss Clerke
Newcomb
Arcturus
375
200 to 300
SECCHI'S
SPECTROSCOPIC STAR TYPES
Characteristics
Star Names
Type I. Sirian Stars
(blue or white)
Broad, intense,
dark hydrogen
lines
Sirius
Vega
Altair and perhaps
more than half of
all the stars
Appendix
SECCHI'S SPECTROSCOPIC STAR TYPES
447
Characteristics
\
Star Names
Type II. Solar Stars
(yellowish like sun)
Fine, dark,
metallic lines
Capella
Arcturus
Type III.
Orange and reddish
stars.
Many dark bands
a Herculis
Mira
An tares
A majority of the
variable stars
Type IV.
Blood red in tint
1
Dark bands or
flutings, the
reverse of Type III.
as to shading
About 50 stars of
this type
TypeV.
Bright lines
Number about 70 -
Situated near the
middle of the
Galaxy
SECCHI'S TYPE
I
II
III
SCINTILLATION
MEAN SCINTILLATION
87
79
59
Scintillation is most pronounced in January and February, and
magnetic storms and violent scintillations are absolutely coincident in
point of time.
STARS APPROACHING THE EARTH
Star N^ame
Speed in Miles per Second
Potsdam
Todd'
Greenwich
Vogel
a Arietis
7 Leonis
Spica
14
11.7
25.1
10.6
17
9.2
9.2
' From Todd's Astronomy.
448
Star Lore of All Ages
STARS APPROACHING THE EARTH
Speed in Miles per Second
Star Natces
Potsdam
Todd'
Greenwich
Vogel
Altair
239
27
23.7
Polaris
16.3
16
Algol
2-3
2
Arcturus
45
4.6
Vega
34
9-7
Deneb
36
51
Pollux*
33
Sirius
9-7
Procyon
7
5-5
Castor
18.4
STARS RECEDING FROM THE EARTH
Speed in Miles per Second
Star Name
Potsdam
Todd'
Vogel
Greenwich
Aldebaran
30
311
30.1
31
Rigel
Betelgeuse
0 Coronas
39
13-6
17.6
20.3
lO.I
18
28
Capella
e Orionis
17
34
152
35
23
15
FAMOUS TEMPORARY STARS
Date
134 B.C.
123 A.D.
Appearing in the Constellation
Scorpio The Star of Hipparchus
Ophiiichus
' From Todd's Astronomy.
' According to Allen Pollux is receding from the earth at the rate of
I mile per second.
\
Appendix
FAMOUS TEMPORARY STARS
449
Date
Appearing in the Constellation
386
Sagittarius
389
Aquila near Altair
393
Scorpio
1012
Aries
1203
Scorpio
1230
Ophiuchus
1572
Cassiopeia Tycho's Star
1604
Ophiuchus Kepler's Star
1670
Vulpecula
1848
Ophiuchus
i860
Scorpio
1866
Corona Borealis
1876
Cygnus
1885
Andromeda
1891-92
Auriga
FAMOUS VARIABLE STARS
Star Name
Period in Days
Range in
Magnitude
Type
oCeti
331
1.7 to 9.5
Mira
R. Leonis
313
5.2 to lO.O
/3 Persei
2| •
2.3 to 3.5
Algol
f Geminorum
io|
3-7 to 4.5
S Librae
2i
5 to 6.2
X Sagittarii
7
4 to 6
iSLyrae
12.9
34 to 4.9
a Herculis
90+
3.1 to 3.9
Irregular
I Sirina
o
at
•I
COLUMBA
\
COLUMBA
/
o Alhena
Gemini
.4
y \
Brecyon
2 in
- .Canis Minor
o
,^>i BetelgeoBe A
" N in ^^
«T^. \ Orion
y
MONOCEROS /
/
/
/
/
X
^ :-:'t^
ttV.
Cants Major
MONOCEROS
O Algol
in
Perseus'
A»
ato
ta
&»
7
--^
TRIANGULUM
^V.
iMusca ^jr
(The Ry) {/'
Miss ••V
TRIANGULUM
INDEX TO CONSTELLATIONS
Andromeda, 21
Antinous, 45
Aquarius, 31
AquUa, 45
Argo Navis, 431
Aries, 53
Auriga, 63
Bootes, 73
Brandenburg Sceptre, The, 245
Bull of Poniatowski, 270
Camelopardalis, 432
Cancer, 87
Canes Venatici, 83
Cards Major, 95
Canis Minor, 109
Capricomus, 115
Cassiopeia, 125
Cepheus, 135
Cetus, 143
Columba, 433
Coma Berenices, 433
Corona Australis, 319
Corona Borealis, 149
Corvus, 157
Crater, 165
Cygnus, 171
Delphinus, 179
Draco, 185
Equuleus, 296
Eridanus, 195
Gemini, 201
Gloria Frederika, 27
Hercules, 213
Hyades, The, 401
Hydra, 223
Lacerta, 434
Leo, 231
Leo Minor, 435
Lepus, 243
Libra, 249
Lynx, 435
Lyra, 257
Milky Way, The, 391
Monoceros, 436
Musca, 60
Ophiuchus and Serpens, 267
Orion, 275
Pegasus, 291
Perseus, 301
Pisces, 309
Piscis Australis, 39
Pleiades, The, 407
Sagitta, 436
Sagittarius, 317
Scorpio, 325
Serpens, 270
Sextans, 437
Sobieski's Shield, 438
Taurus, 335
Triangulum, 438
Ursa Major, 347
Ursa Minor, 371
Virgo, 381
Vulpecula and Ancer, 439
453
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r* " The work is a thoroughly scientific treatise on stars. The name
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New York London
Popular Books on Astronomy
A Beginner's Star-
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This new edition of An Easy Guide to the Constellations has been
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G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
New York London
Popular Books on Astronomy
History ol Astronomy
By George Forbes, M.A., F.R.S., N.Inst.C.E.
Formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy, Anderson's College, Glasgow
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Nch I A History of the Sciences Series
The author traces the evolution of intellectual thought in the
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A Field Book o! the Stars
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To facilitate the fascinating recreation of star-gazing the author
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The nison ifetre therefore for the book is convenience and
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Star Lore of the Ages
A Collection of Myths, Legends, and Facts Concerning
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8vo. Fully Illustrated
Will appeal alike to those who are interested in folk-lore and
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G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
New York London
oinpvinu ocui
DEC 6 1982
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